Something interesting happened this week. Our youngest daughter was true to her word. She cleaned out the back room. I mean she really cleaned. This is a big deal for several reasons. First, Crystal, being a creative person, has a hard time getting rid of things. She always thinks about repurposing everything. She is, however, working on the problem. She gave Lisa and me full control over the decisions about the room. This was a big step for her.
The second problem is our cat, which sleeps in the room at night. While there were four litters in the room, for some reason none were suitable for his highness. He has always preferred random relief of bowel and bladder around the room. If it were up to me he would have been given his freedom years ago. I would have supported his rights for freedom anywhere else in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, my authority is limited, and as in any marriage, there are some things it’s just better to let go. In this case, I just let the thing go all around the room.
I helped drag all of the first edition books, cleaning supplies, ruined cloths, etc. out to the garbage. To my surprise, as I was dragging a box, a lady walked up to me. She introduced herself to me as a neighbor and asked what I was doing. I explained the situation, including the cat part. The next words out of her mouth were a shock. “Is it OK if I bring my truck here and go through the trash?” I said sure, but did you hear the part about the cat. She explained that I had very good trash. She would be careful about what she took and clean it thoroughly. I had never thought about trash being good or bad, just trash. I told her she was welcome to whatever she wanted. Furthermore, she gave me her name and number for any future treasure dumps. She then hugged me and went to get her husband and truck. To my surprise she was earnestly happy about the find. We had reclaimed our back room and made someone happy at the same time. Life, and people for that matter, never ceases to amaze me.
Enjoy the Summer!