25 bags of my life in clothing.

Part of getting ready to move included my mother calling my cousin Cindy to come down and help me “get rid of the clutter.” What this meant to my mother was, “Gwen has too much shit, won’t get rid of it, and I know Cindy will.”

So, knowing what had to happen, I allowed 25 bags of clothing to go to GoodWill on Sunday. Jones New York suits. At least 10 Jones New York suits. Granted, I couldn’t wear a one because they were too big, but still. Beautiful wool skirts and pants that coordinated with the suits. Dresses. My most favorite Jones New York dress. Black silk with gold stars. Shoes. The navy blue suede Charles David pumps I got for my sisters wedding that I may have worn 3 times. Hell, the dress I wore at my sisters wedding. Gone. All gone.

Then, my Family Circles going back to 1999. I kept the Christmas ones, but good thing I went through all of them before I tossed them. I found four that weren’t pulled out. Every Mode magazine that was ever printed. Gone to the recycle bin.

And there is more. Stuffed animals that I didn’t get rid of the last cleaning. My old walkman and sony cd player. Purses, wallets… All gone.

I hate giving things away. I hate that my mother forced the issue. I hate feeling like I had no choice in the matter. I hate that she had me go look for houses while the purging continued at my house. I hated filling up the recycle bin tonight with all my magazines.

You know whats worse? Knowing that barely one room is done. I’ve got 4 rooms and a garage left to go, and that doesn’t count the space under the stairs. As much as I want a new house, I hope it doesn’t come too soon. All this purging doesn’t make me feel better, cleaner or free’er. I feel a huge sense of loss, and having it come because someone else forced the issue so only makes it worse. I would have packed it all and moved it to the new house.

It is, you know, the pack-rat way.

Comments

  1. This is just completely unfair! I can barely believ my ears! I feel so sorry for you!
    You cannot forciby declutter anyone! Did you at least get to choose what went and what remained?
    I am a pack-rat too and I have been decluttering for two years now with the flylady programme. Sure, the name is silly, but it works for me. I even got my mom to start decluttering, just a little bit (She is the ultimate packrat, and couldn’t fit into her flat anymore!)
    But to declutter you need to let go yourself. You need time. You can’t just be decluttered like this!

  2. That’s just awful. Understand completely. You should have had a choice, for god’s sake!

  3. ah my mother did that kind of stuff to me, too. ridiculous! You know, those suits could have been tailored. I hated it when she made me throw stuff away.

    why must you purge? cant your new place contain your old things?