I have recently come to the decision that it is time to sell my beautiful china, crystal and silver. A million years ago, I, together with my then-fiancé (when we were idealists and full of love, excitement and hope for the future) picked out the patterns, knew what fit with our personalities and registered for our adoring fans and family members to gift to us for our wedding.

We loved to entertain and in the early years of our marriage, and even somewhat into the latter years, the china was pulled out for special occasions. Let me tell you–I know how to set a beautiful dinner table!

Since the divorce I have been steadily moving into smaller and smaller domiciles. I moved out of a five-bedroom home to a 4 bedroom home to a 3 bedroom home. Now I’m about to pull the trigger on renting a 2 bedroom apartment. If you know me at all, and know anything about my genetic lineage, you will understand that “Pack Rat” is my unofficial middle name. In my defense, I come by this trait honestly.

My great Aunt Beulah lived in her parents’ farm house for all of her life. When she retired from teaching, she decided to sell the property and move into a “retirement” home. Sorting through her belongings was a mountainous task. And believe me when I say the Smithsonian had nothing on Aunt Beulah. Her attic was stock full of the most amazing trinkets, treasures and trash imaginable. Doll carriages, broken furniture, chests full of forgotten memorabilia. Bags and bags of expired food and stale M&Ms. And boxed handkerchiefs.

Yes, handkerchiefs. The beautifully embroidered cloth kind. As a teacher in the mid-20th century, she commonly received gifts in the form of boxed handkerchiefs from her students. She had stacks of these buried in corners and stuffed in closets. I even took one and used it on my wedding day as my “something old.”

When she moved to the much smaller apartment, my mother and her sister, along with their husbands, did wonders to pare down the junk. One more move into her family’s lake cottage pared things down even more. Her final home was a nursing home and she somehow managed to still surround herself with the most incredible assortment of junk!

Well, I am proudly following in great Aunt Beulah’s footsteps, in both the collecting of and the need to get rid of junk. With this upcoming move, I decided it was time to think about selling some of my things from my marriage. My china, for instance. And my silver and crystal. I never use it anymore. I am holding onto those things purely for sentimental reasons, and the sentiment has been anything but pleasant lately.

I mentioned this decision to a coworker today, and without a moment’s hesitation, she said “Hell yes. Sell that stuff now! It’s time to pack it up and move on. You’ve only got this one life. Don’t let these things hold you back, Lynette.”

It was such a simple statement but so powerful.

“It’s time to pack it up and move on.”

So I am. I can almost hear my friends and family applauding, nodding their heads and saying, “it’s about damn time, girl!”

So this weekend, it’s going away. My china. My crystal. My silver.

It’s time to pack it all up. I’ve got some moving to do and I don’t want to lug it with me anymore.

1 Comment on Luggage and Bone China

One Reply to “Luggage and Bone China”

I'd love to hear your positive thoughts...