The Blonde in the house and I have moved many, many times so moving again should be no problem. Ha! It seems like they get harder each time – which may be in concert with our advancing age. Well, my age keeps advancing – The Blonde’s not so much. The purpose of this move though is that it is to be the last one. It is my sincere hope that it will be. The specific problem with this move is that we are downsizing. I mean really downsizing.
When we first contemplated the move, The Blonde stated emphatically that there were things that she was going to keep no matter what and she would find a place for them. Well, we have moved and it seems that there are no places for some of her treasures. She has a memory for every piece of furniture that we owned, plus an equally vivid remembrance on every knick knack that has laid on many shelves, racks etc. Here there are not the shelves, racks and other places that were present in past homes.
Therefore, we have entered a new age of compromise. One memory is compared with another and sadly some things of emotional and other value will disappear from view. That is, or view as most of the items will appear in other folks view. You don’t just throw such items in the garbage can. No sir, charities can use them, although a couple may be starting to get tired of our visits as there have been many made. There is a saying that goes something like one man’s discards are another man’s gold. We sincerely hope that whoever does end up with what we had to remove from our premises enjoys them as much as we have.
I might mention that some of this could be avoided if the kids wanted more of what we had to let go out into the cruel cold world, but I will admit as indicated above that someone else will value them. The point here is that generations like different things. Our kids, and we find the same lament among friends, do not want what we suggest that they might want. Tastes differ, and decorations like a bunch of Hummel figures just do not fit in their décor. In our generation Hummel’s were a thing of pride. They were not cheap, and books were put out indicating the value of the different figurines. Today, many people do not know what a Hummel is unless it might be a digital character in a game.
The same outlook applies to other sought after items of the past. Take Lenox china for an example. One of the places we lived was near a Lenox manufacturing facility. All sorts of Lenox ware was steaming out into the awaiting market where it was snapped up. Every so often someone sends me photos of items that were popular when I was young and laments their departure. None of them were digital, of course, but they still were a lot of fun or very usable at the time.
I wonder what the young people of today will think down the road when they find out that their kids do not want what they offer them since they will not have room when they downsize. Most likely they will lament and wail that “kids today just don’t know when something old should be cherished”. By that time, they will have forgotten what they told their parents and shake their heads at their children’s attitude at what has been good and great in their generation.
As someone said, “Life doesn’t change that much no matter the generation!” (Actually, I just did!)
Barry Evans writes about “Life in The Villages” for Villages-News.com.
