Packin' up

Well, since Ike blew in life has been really tough, emotionally. With a newborn, my aunt's crazy accident and death and not having power- it was really overwhelming. Just as I thought I was seeing light, my Grandmother started to not do so well, so my dad and his brother made the decision to move her to an assisted living place in Finneytown. It's been really stressful. My folks are hoping that they are making the right decision, worrying about how long they can afford her to live there, driving over to her house and calling her everyday to give her medication to keep her stable. It's really crazy to see all that they are going through.
This past week I've been over at her condo a few days this past week starting to pack her up and get her ready to move on Sunday. We got rid of 5 huge garage bags of stuff to donate from ONE closet. This week I need to get her clothes all boxed up and ready to go. It's been a mixed can of nuts. On one hand I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing the stories of where she was when she wore some of her evening gowns that are now in my closet; it's been great to see old photos of my grandparents and to see them in a different light. It's been fun to hear stories that I've never heard before. At the same time, it has been difficult to watch her make decisions about what to keep- she kept saying that she didn't want to get rid of it because she didn't want to forget the memories. It was hard to throw things away that she felt were treasures. It was overwhelming to start to pack up and give away a life's worth of memories.
It's also motivated me to start going through our house and declutter it and start getting stuff out of the house so that our home isn't quite as overwhelming.