...more like packrat city!
I am a packrat of the worst sort. Having a creative mind, I can't look at something without thinking, "Wow, I could hang that on the wall in our living room!" or "I can't throw that away- I'm sure we're going to need it 20 years down the road" Doesn't matter what it is. Perhaps I need therapy.
Tonight Matthew and I found ourselves in a bit of a strange situation. Two months ago my mentor, Marian, passed away- no relatives here whatsoever, but lots of people who loved her just the same. A woman from our church, Gail, who is like a mom to me (since mine doesn't live here) is settling her estate after Marian left everything to the church. Matthew and I inherited her sweet sofa- we're talking light green crushed velvet, 2 piece sectional. So tonight Gail tells us to go over to Marian's house to see if there is anything else we would like to take before it's all donated to the church garage sale.
So there we are, sitting in Marian's house, weird as that is to be in someone's house that was so dear to me, that isn't there anymore, rummaging through her belongings. Weird. It was hard not to pack up everything there into the back of our pickup. I kept thinking, "Someone is going to buy this for 25 cents and not have the slightest clue that the most amazing woman owned this. We're talking about a woman who, with her husband was a missionary to Bangladesh for more years than I've been alive! She took many of us young women in the church under her wing, praying for us and encouraging us to live our lives to the fullest and to find happiness in God's blessings. She was amazing.
Thankfully Matthew was there. He's good at limiting me and grounding my emotional side. He actually picked out some pretty weird things too. He walked out of there with some sort of reel to reel recording device, a hand held blender thing, and some cuff links. I picked out some antique gloves, a few little dishes, a scarf and some other little things. Gail came over after awhile, so we sat around and gabbed- it was nice to have a mother on Mother's Day... especially since I couldn't seem to get ahold of mine.
I felt so at peace at Marian's house. Whoever moves into her house will, I'm certain, feel the presence of God there. After many months of brain tumors, she never had any pain, though her memory failed. Her prayers were constant and powerful to the end. She counted down the days till she would get to go to Heaven.
So here we are, left contemplating life and death, trying to make it to the end of another day, and packratting all the while.
Tonight Matthew and I found ourselves in a bit of a strange situation. Two months ago my mentor, Marian, passed away- no relatives here whatsoever, but lots of people who loved her just the same. A woman from our church, Gail, who is like a mom to me (since mine doesn't live here) is settling her estate after Marian left everything to the church. Matthew and I inherited her sweet sofa- we're talking light green crushed velvet, 2 piece sectional. So tonight Gail tells us to go over to Marian's house to see if there is anything else we would like to take before it's all donated to the church garage sale.
So there we are, sitting in Marian's house, weird as that is to be in someone's house that was so dear to me, that isn't there anymore, rummaging through her belongings. Weird. It was hard not to pack up everything there into the back of our pickup. I kept thinking, "Someone is going to buy this for 25 cents and not have the slightest clue that the most amazing woman owned this. We're talking about a woman who, with her husband was a missionary to Bangladesh for more years than I've been alive! She took many of us young women in the church under her wing, praying for us and encouraging us to live our lives to the fullest and to find happiness in God's blessings. She was amazing.
Thankfully Matthew was there. He's good at limiting me and grounding my emotional side. He actually picked out some pretty weird things too. He walked out of there with some sort of reel to reel recording device, a hand held blender thing, and some cuff links. I picked out some antique gloves, a few little dishes, a scarf and some other little things. Gail came over after awhile, so we sat around and gabbed- it was nice to have a mother on Mother's Day... especially since I couldn't seem to get ahold of mine.
I felt so at peace at Marian's house. Whoever moves into her house will, I'm certain, feel the presence of God there. After many months of brain tumors, she never had any pain, though her memory failed. Her prayers were constant and powerful to the end. She counted down the days till she would get to go to Heaven.
So here we are, left contemplating life and death, trying to make it to the end of another day, and packratting all the while.
posted by Cristina | 12:35 AM
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