KEEPERS -- Recycle Queens and a Time for Fixing Things: Guest Article

Kim Wolinski, MSW
"Dr. DeClutter" www.drdeclutter.com

I don't know who Bill Winch is, but what a great essay!
Thank you Bill for sounding my sentiments!

KEEPERS -- Recycle Queens and a Time for Fixing Things: Guest Article

I grew up in the fifties with a practical parent -- a mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had name for it.

A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, dishtowel in the other.

It was the time for fixing things -- a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more.' Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away... never to return.

So... while we have it...
it's best we love it...
and care for it...
and fix it when it's broken...
and heal it when it's sick.

This is true... for marriage... and old cars... and children with bad report cards... and dogs with bad hips... and aging parents... and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away -- or -- a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.....and so, we keep them close!

Good friends are like stars....

You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Thank you Bill. Yes, love is a verb.

The holidaze are fast approaching. But, don't use this time of year, like a must, have to, should or excuse to be extra nice -- do it all year long.

Organize your time, thoughts and energy to make sure as often as possible, and then again, to thank people in your life; to acknowledge them with "actions" of love, gratitude and affection as well as compassion, care and kindness.

Do you need help with organizing -- Inner, Outer or Other? Along the Front Range of Colorado, I'm here to help you -- "hands on!" If you're not local, I can help you over the phone! Email me at kim@drdeclutter.com or call my office 303-485-5280. Why? Because, I'm "Dr. DeClutter!"