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DEL.ICIO.USKeep, spruce, or pitch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My kindred spirit roommate recently told me a most terrible tale: her aunts and mother, who do not share her love of antiques, once overhauled their mother’s home while she was away on vacation. As their dear old mum cruised unknown waters, they tossed out antique furniture, linens and china dolls, thinking they were doing their elderly mother a much-needed favor.
They were wrong. Grandma about lost her mind along with the valuables sold in a yard sale. I imagine any relaxation she gained was quickly replaced with rage.
Once my astonishment gave way to clear thought, we pondered the concept of “one woman’s trash is another’s treasure.” I cherish the old scratched china plates I pluck from flea markets, or the beat-up furniture whose character outshines its flaws.
I know the pieces I want banished from my house, but none of them are antiques, and I doubt they’ll survive the decades they need to be labeled as such. Do you have pieces in your home you can’t wait to trash? Better yet, do you have any beloved furniture you saved from the depths of someone else’s despair?
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Comments
By Midlife Wonder
July 15, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
Me wife wont let me throw out her mother’s junk. The garage is cluttered with worthless junk. It’s not fair. I want a divorce.
I want a new wife, a younger, more fit wife who doesn’t have a mother, or a cat. A wife who will marvel at every word I utter. Someone who never really says much except, “Dinner. Wanna fool around? and Target Practice!”
Aw, things are gonna be great, once I rid myself of these old sticks and old bones. What can I say, I’m gonna start jogging again, and working in the yard, and eating broccoli sprouts and everything. I’ll even watch oprah. Anything. TO be free of the nagging and the belly aching and the incessant bellowing…..
Yeah, I got furniture I hate.
By D.Al
July 15, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
My son has informed me after my death he is going to have a yard sale that I can live with, but in the mean time it is to be understood that my life style of things are not their business. Personal items tends to caress the essence of existence, it is not the dollar value or the size that announces its’ importance rather it is all in the sense of how it makes me feel. Things that stimulate the mind may contribute to better health/longevity as well as culture, family heirlooms perhaps even history. The old saying there is nothing new under the sun applies to things also.
By Oh My
July 16, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
I have four sisters, we drew straws on who would get our grandmother’s and great grandmother’s stuff! None of us are into the “modern” look - frankly, I don’t can stand what I call disposable furniture. It has no character and it is cheaply made! Now let me see an old piece that has lasted over 100 yrs and we’ll talk.
By casey
July 16, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this
My great-aunt had a wonderful stone Craftsman bungalow in East TN, filled with family things, and an attic full of vintage toys. Her redneck white-trash children & grandchildren decided to clean out the house while she was hospitalized. She died soon after, helped along, I’m certain, by the loss of her treasures.