Some things are hard to part with. However, when it takes up space and no longer serves a purpose, it has got to go. So as the winter weather keeps me inside and I cast an eye on the next victim item that must be cast away, donated or burned (there’s a perfectly good fire in the fireplace that can help), I have a solution for now anyway. Snap a photo and capture it digitally.
I can imagine how this may sit with those who capture photos for art’s sake. My thought of capturing old stuff may just smack of junk photography. But consider the treasures I would photograph.
As the girls brought home school art from elementary school, I framed their pieces in an acrylic frame and hung them in the laundry room.
My smart husband suggested to me what to do with them. “Take a picture and then maybe, it’s time to let go of them.” ..as in … sniff … sniff … throw them away.
Also, there are those homecoming mums! Homecoming mums* (See explanation below. Hint: Texas-sized corsages) were not to be thrown away, but were hung on hangers after the big game and dance year after year in the recesses of their closets. The blooms–real or fake–were and still are bedecked with long 2 inch wide ribbons in their team’s colors that reached their knees or ankles. Miniature cowbells, football charms and custom you-name-it charms are attached to said beautiful ribbons and blooms. Glitter is generously spray-glued all over leaving a telltale trail to the one who wears it.
A mum measures about a yard to four feet long and covers the whole front of the young ladies wearing one, two or even three! Yes, they walk a little lopsided and those cowbells ring through the halls, during class and maybe in the cafeteria at lunchtime they can reach their food as they eat. I’m not sure how they go to the bathroom, but they manage. Yes, those are Texas-sized corsages. Some are pinned and others…well, just hang around the neck.
Okay, now that they are “preserved” digitally…what to do with them? So as I play with the thought of what this Mom will do with the mums, it occurs to me that perhaps today’s Superbowl can have a say in the matter.
1. If the Seahawks win, Donate to a local charity where they can be recycled during football season.
2. If the Broncos win, Find a home-based business that can use the supplies and recycle.
Either way it’s a win-win…but alas, disposing of “mums” if my girls get wind of this, may not be a win-win for Mom. After all, the Super Bowl is serious business as is keeping “mums” until time immemorial.
And, then there were those prom and homecoming dresses. All have been donated now, but one has sat in our home closet with orders of “Do not get rid of it!” Shhhh…guess what? It’s gone. Donated. Take a picture? Nah…as I thought about it, we already had pictures of the pre-big-dance. I’d rather view her in the dress than see it on a hanger.
[Explanation: In Texas, girls receive giant chrysanthemum corsages from girlfriends and boyfriends alike that they wear to THE game. In recent years, the real chrysanthemum bloom has been replaced by a silk one, making the mum more permanent and un-throw-away-able.]
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