I posted the book give away on Face Book as well as on the blog. I have about a dozen takers so far. It is an interesting endeavor.
As I clean out the basement stuff, I find things I have not thought about in years. Now, what do you do about things you haven't thought about in year? If I haven't thought about it, does it make sense to keep it? I haven't use it, its existence hasn't even crossed my mind. Like those two boxes of sheet music that is finding a home thanks to my friend Mary. I found a set of castanets from Cuba that David must have had since he was a boy. Julia is very excited about these, as she is about setting up the electric piano and digging out all the instruments that we have. I've promised her a space for all of them, probably in the basement, when I finish my sort and clean. Those are easy things. Easy because they will be put to use.
And there are the boxes of books. David's novels. I have found three full boxes of those books. It is not unusual collection for an author. Books go out of print. Authors like to give books away when they are introducing some new work to an organization or publisher. But it doesn't make sense for me to keep them. I fretted over this dilemma for a short time -- not wanting to take the books to Half Price Books like I did with other unwanted books, but not wanting to commit myself to carrying around more boxes for the rest of my life, and leaving the dilemma to Cheshire and Julia when the books are old and the pages cracking. Of course, waiting that long will make the trash can look so much easier. Postage is such a small price to pay to get those books into loving hands. It will take me a few months to get it together. I am rather overwhelmed with so much stuff, but slowly I will make my way to sending volumes on their way.
Some will make it to Australia -- maybe soon, maybe in awhile. David's mother's side of the family has a branch in an around Syndey, with one cousin (of the second, third, and much removed sort) who has visited the states, even met Cheshire last summer. He wrote and asked for some to be saved or sent for the branch. It is only in the last few years of his life that David became interested in his extended family. He set up a family tree and enjoyed being in touch with one of the cousins. He had hoped to travel to meet some of these long lost cousins. Maybe his book can do a bit of that for him. I hope that I can make that trip, visit my friend, Marianne, and meet some of those cousins.
And the stuff. The dining room is full of what I am sorting. The crono log boxes which grew from four to seven this week and which now include material from David’s parents and a bit from his grandparents continues to grow. Some of this will be discarded and some of the discards belong no place else by the garbage, but I wonder about some of it. Greeting cards from the ‘40’s, school work books from the ’50’s and early ’60’s. Would a historical society want those? When we cleaned out my mother’s house we discarded some things like my father’s foot ball uniforms that should have been offered to his town’s high school or historical society. They may not have wanted them, but perhaps the articles may have filled holes in collections. I will try not to make that mistake again.
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