I remember going back to see our storage unit for the first time and, like you, realized—what the heck was I saving this (candle/step ladder/collection of papers) for?? I think we grow so much that first year living abroad and come back with a fresh sense of what really matters in life. And it’s not the “stuff”.
Boy do I identify with the clean out pain and look forward to the finish! We are moving to Valencia in July and I just completed same cringe filled trip down high school memory lane with locker love letters, yearbooks, 3rd place spelling bee certificates and my once prized Garfield phone heading straight to the dumpster.
Nagged by questions like: Is it worth trying to streamline a dozen photo albums to tell a story in 1 page of photos rather than 10 pages of party pics? What to do with the boxes of items for the kids baby books that were never finished - and the associated guilt they never got done? Seriously am I shipping that wedding china that cost thousands but can't be sold for more the $300?
DETERMINED to feel unburdened for our coming adventure without fully erasing the past. Trying to learn Spanish has reinforced that my brain continues to lose plasticity and I'm fairly certain it's clearing space by squeezing out a memory with every new verb tense I try to learn.
This is such a good perspective! You hit on a lot of the emotions that come with this move. I felt guilt trashing some of the things my mom saved for me, but I also didn’t want it.
I actually sent off photos to be digitized, and it’s going to cost a small fortune, but if I don’t do it, they’re lost forever because I refuse to bring all those paper photos abroad. They’ll be placed in a box and rarely looked at again.
I will say that bringing our most precious things back to Spain has made me feel a bit more at home, so I do encourage you to bring your treasures if you can. It’s nice to see those things, and at Christmas, I’m excited to hang our Christmas stockings again.
So good, Jen. I wish I'd known--I would've had Jordan go through it with Will when he was in town last week! LOL! But I'm glad you got to purge and move forward. Nothing like cleansing!
Congratulations!!! What a huge accomplishment! I know it is because I have my own garage of “trash” still in the States that I don’t want to see or deal with but I know something must be done. Did your kids have any difficulty parting with things? I’m afraid my kids would be devastated to see some things go. It’s a hard lesson.
Thank you! It was such a relief to have it gone—finally. The kids were actually fine with letting go of most of it. I thought for sure they’d want to keep some of the toys they stored, but 99% of those were donated. They hadn’t seen them in so long that I guess they lost most of their appeal.
I remember going back to see our storage unit for the first time and, like you, realized—what the heck was I saving this (candle/step ladder/collection of papers) for?? I think we grow so much that first year living abroad and come back with a fresh sense of what really matters in life. And it’s not the “stuff”.
Absolutely. And once you haven’t seen it in a long time, it loses some of its meaning, too, I think.
Boy do I identify with the clean out pain and look forward to the finish! We are moving to Valencia in July and I just completed same cringe filled trip down high school memory lane with locker love letters, yearbooks, 3rd place spelling bee certificates and my once prized Garfield phone heading straight to the dumpster.
Nagged by questions like: Is it worth trying to streamline a dozen photo albums to tell a story in 1 page of photos rather than 10 pages of party pics? What to do with the boxes of items for the kids baby books that were never finished - and the associated guilt they never got done? Seriously am I shipping that wedding china that cost thousands but can't be sold for more the $300?
DETERMINED to feel unburdened for our coming adventure without fully erasing the past. Trying to learn Spanish has reinforced that my brain continues to lose plasticity and I'm fairly certain it's clearing space by squeezing out a memory with every new verb tense I try to learn.
This is such a good perspective! You hit on a lot of the emotions that come with this move. I felt guilt trashing some of the things my mom saved for me, but I also didn’t want it.
I actually sent off photos to be digitized, and it’s going to cost a small fortune, but if I don’t do it, they’re lost forever because I refuse to bring all those paper photos abroad. They’ll be placed in a box and rarely looked at again.
I will say that bringing our most precious things back to Spain has made me feel a bit more at home, so I do encourage you to bring your treasures if you can. It’s nice to see those things, and at Christmas, I’m excited to hang our Christmas stockings again.
Wow! What a task - congratulations!
Thank you! Hard work, but worth it.
So good, Jen. I wish I'd known--I would've had Jordan go through it with Will when he was in town last week! LOL! But I'm glad you got to purge and move forward. Nothing like cleansing!
It’s okay! We got it done, but it was kind of a nightmare at times. 😅 It feels good to have it off my shoulders!
So happy for you!!
Thank you so much! I couldn’t be happier to have it done. 😆
Jen, I loved hearing how you have dealt with all the stuff associated with life and what you all left behind. Thanks for such an honest take!
Thank you! There was so much to sort and process and ponder. It’s a task I don’t wish upon anyone. 😮💨
Feels so good!! 😁😁
Yes!!!
Congratulations!!! What a huge accomplishment! I know it is because I have my own garage of “trash” still in the States that I don’t want to see or deal with but I know something must be done. Did your kids have any difficulty parting with things? I’m afraid my kids would be devastated to see some things go. It’s a hard lesson.
Thank you! It was such a relief to have it gone—finally. The kids were actually fine with letting go of most of it. I thought for sure they’d want to keep some of the toys they stored, but 99% of those were donated. They hadn’t seen them in so long that I guess they lost most of their appeal.