There is a big pile going to Goodwill that includes everything from a basketball to an old video camera. There are holiday decorations........books.....video's....and on and on.
We found 5 old cell phones with chargers, etc that we will be donating to Verizon.
Next week, when my new eyeglasses come in I will donate my old pair. This time I needed 2 sets of glasses. One is called office glasses for computer work and seeing things a short distance away. My regular glasses just don't do it for me at work and I have been wearing magnifiers for the last year.
The two closets are now organized and I could probably throw out more or sell it on Ebay but I just haven't gotten to that point yet. I will have to before I make my next move but want to pray over things first. Or else I will move them with me and then decide what to do with them........
Anyway, there were a lot of pictures to go through.....some we pitched......there were old newspapers with headlines from the Yankees various World Series Wins, Clinton's Impeachment, the Challenger Explosion.....I pitched them all. Well almost all.....I kept the newspapers I had collected from Dec. 31, 1999 and Jan. 1, 2000......just couldn't put those in the recycle bin.
Please bear with the pictures I have attached regarding the part of this entry I have written below.......
We came across a box of old checks. I found one made out to my Dad from Donna Raboni (me) for $75. I think it was for room and board (yes, I did pay rent to my parents and was making a whopping $11,000 a year working in NYC). The part I loved the best was my Dad's signature on the back of the check (my siblings will appreciate he cashed it at his favorite Italian restaurant in Little Italy...LOL). My Dad had a unique signature and as soon as I saw it I thought of all the report cards and a few notes to school with his signature. It was not a signature that could be copied.......my Mom's was much easier.....just ask my brother, Greg, he can vouch for the number of letters I signed for him on Mom's behalf....LOL. There was a check for $239....the monthly rent for our first apartment. A check for $50 made out to my obstetrician when I was pregnant with Jenn. I think Jenn was also fascinated with the fact that the bank used to return the checks. I have not shredded them yet and I might save a few more.......OK so I kept the box of checks to rummage through.
Room and board check:
Dad's unique left handed signature: check cashed at Giambone's Italian restaurant
Rent check 1st apartment:
Check to obstetrician for Jenn: (partial payment of course)
oh and don't worry I deleted out the account numbers and the bank has long since closed and the Italian restaurant no longer exists......
I did give Jenn some things to shred and she had some things of her own to run through the shredder. She was doing it carefully.....thank goodness because while getting rid of things she found a letter to her from my Mom. It was from August of 1990. Mom was in Texas at Missionary School. She had written Jenn about how excited Jenn must be to be starting school soon. It was a wonderful letter and made me cry. In it she wrote about the fact she knew I had lost my job but on the positive side how great that I was able to spend Jenn's last summer of true freedom with her. Mom wrote about how Jenn would never have a summer again totally free of obligations to school or a job. It was a wonderful Grandmotherly letter!!! She also said that Jenn might not know it then but I was Jenn's best friend and someday she would realize that too. I sat there are read the letter over and over and could feel Mom with me for those few minutes. It made me miss her more and also made me remember how wise she was and how much she loved her grandchildren.......how lucky they were to have her in their lives.
Part of 1st page of letter from Mom 8/1990:
Mom letter part 2 about last summer free for Jenn and that I would be Jenn's best friend:
Mom letter- last few sentences:
Well, there are several more closets to clean out and more hiding places in the house where I have "stored" things. Now I will take just a little longer looking through things so I don't throw out anything as important to me or Jenn as that letter.
I did find various pictures of myself that I pitched. I did come across one from when I was at my heaviest. Jenn made me keep that one and said "it's a reminder of how far you have come." And she was right...throwing the picture away would have been throwing away a reminder of my success. And shredding that letter from Mom......that would have been such a loss. So 2 of the things we kept had to do with losses.....one turned into a success and one a painful reminder of an important person no longer with us.
I had no idea when Jenn started pulling the boxes out of the closet it would be such an adventure. The bottom line is Goodwill wins, the women who have suffered domestic violence will benefit from the phones donated to Verizon, the eyeglasses will give someone a chance at better sight and for me the gift of remembering the love of my Mom, my best friend, my teacher, my cheerleader and the Nannie who took the time to write to her then 5 year old granddaughter about what excitement she had ahead of her as she was getting ready to start school. Talking about reaping benefits.....it was like hitting the lottery.....no..... it was better than that because there is no money that could give me the feeling that two page letter written 25 years ago gave me.......
Mom and Jenn 2007......
See you next week........
PS Maybe at some point I will post the picture of my at my all time high...just not ready to do that yet.
PS2 Also, another week down at the scale.....yeah!!
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