To Purge … and How … or Not to Purge

Many of you might have heard of “fall cleaning.” Like spring cleaning, fall cleaning is the chance to do a deep dive into cleaning. According to Homes & Gardens, these might include dusting shelves, furniture and décor; cleaning floors and rugs; cleaning ceiling fans and light fixtures; cleaning windows; cleaning furnace filters and dryer vents; cleaning the garage and basement; cleaning the refrigerator; and perhaps the biggest challenge of all: tackling your closet.

Since the boys moved out, I’ll admit that Steve and I have grown a bit lazy when it comes to cleaning out stuff. Our garage looks like a bomb went off in it and one of our boys’ bedrooms became a catch all. Whenever we were unsure where to put something (or too lazy to put it where it belonged) we put it in our son’s room. And closed the door. And avoided opening the door at all costs.

But we have one son who moved away and is looking for items from his room and from his brother’s. He’s looking for a lot of stuff. And I’m eager to mail it off to him. So I’ve gone into his room and packed up a couple of boxes of stuff, then to his brother’s room where I’ve packed up more stuff. (I don’t even want to think how much it’ll cost to get all of this to him.)

But what I’ve discovered is that after I’ve packed up everything he wants, there’s still more that I have to deal with. For example, a box of books.

I come from a background where books are pretty much sacrosanct; you don’t throw them away. While I’m delighted to see around town many of the newly installed book boxes, most are pretty packed with books already and don’t have room for more. (A side note: our new dog Molly thinks books are delicious and has already eaten a couple. I don’t want to “feed” her more.)

The one who moved away is our chef son and in his closet are chef coats of different colors. They’re in pretty good shape; do I throw them out or donate them to Goodwill or some other charity? Same problem with some of his shoes – they’re not new but they don’t have holes in them either. Donate or throw out?

With my fellow chamber board members I’ve recently cleaned out the former office of the CV Chamber of Commerce; that was a huge undertaking, too. But I don’t think they’re up to coming to my house to help me purge – or not – or keep stuff.

         Steve and I are on our own.

         Suggestions are welcome.