For years, we maintained a small storage shed; now it was time to clear it completely. When we began, we were certain that clearing that shed would be a piece of cake, in fact, German chocolate cake with thick icing. After all, two years ago, we had given away much of the clothing, so what could possibly be left? Boy! Were we wrong!
There was a TV show entitled Gilligan’s Island that aired between September 1964 and April 1967. The plot revolved around seven people who set sail on what is scheduled to be a three-hour sightseeing tour on the charter boat The Minnow, get caught in a storm and end up stranded on an uncharted tropical island together. The show itself contains a lot of gentle humor and works because of the dynamics among the various members of the cast. Week after week, the cast think they will escape, only for their hopes to be dashed. After passing into syndication, the show has become a cult classic.
For us, clearing our storage shed turned into an adventure reminiscent of Gilligan’s Island. We thought we were going to make it through in one or two days; after all, what could be so difficult about some containers of glassware, clothing, papers, and photographs? We really did assume we might clear the entire thing in three hours. But we rapidly found that our anticipated three hour-tour eventually stranded us in a relative’s garage piled full of containers. We were stuck on a desert island called Memorabilia with no means of escape apart from making agonizing decisions. And we didn’t even have a catchy theme song to encourage us.
We found photographs-bags, boxes, albums. We found correspondence from Emmaus Walks we had taken in 2008. We found old photos from 1967. We also found all my class notes from my Tropical Medicine course at Tulane thirty years ago. Why didn’t we handle these things better or more expeditiously? We kept thinking there would be more time, and there wasn’t.
Along the way, there were some great discoveries. We found my husband’s U.S. Navy uniform, along with two white hats. We found a small dresser we could ship to a cousin, whose father had refinished it in the first place. We were able to pass on a few pieces of furniture to another relative who was thrilled. And one local thrift store catering to a large Congolese population was happy to take all the African stuff we could bring them. Finally, we were left with boxes previously stored in my grandmother’s home, and that was when we found much of my mom’s crystal, something one niece had longed for.
Now we are left with papers and photos to scan. The cloud and peripheral hard drives are definitely our friends, for without digital records, we have no space to store these things and we can’t carry them any further.
How would we advise others who find themselves in our position? Take care of things today! You will NEVER have more time to deal with those photos, that correspondence, those memories. Scan things, save them to the cloud, save them to peripheral hard drives, save them any way you can and then shred what you must shred and burn what you must burn. And as you deal with memorabilia, thank God for all those people, all those friends, all those relatives, all that travel, all the good times. There are people throughout the world who have lost everything in fires, floods, earthquakes, or other natural disasters. Those people would give anything if they just had a few items left. May God help you so that you will treasure what you have and preserve it in a fashion that does not become a burden!
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