Dear Basement,
Aha! You thought that we would just let you become large and stuffed with antiques and Ebay store items and dust, but you were wrong. You though we’d allow you to sit warm and musty for years to come, with your beautiful little vintage treasures just lying around for your enjoyment. But oh no! Today your purging began.
At eleven am this morning I took my first steps into your deep, dark cavern. You used to be a little girl’s bedroom, so lilac paint still grins out from above the white wainscot. (Don’t worry basement, the lilac will soon be banished - the whole family is in agreement it looks like a dizzy faerie threw up on it.) The matching purple carpet in the back is a hideous contrast to the stone floor that leads into you from the hallway, past the great fireplace. That, too, will be taken care of as soon as we make enough room on the floor to actually make it a liveable den.
Armed with black sacks and a Swiffer duster, I began the Great Purge. Seven hours later, your book shelves have been divided into donations and keepers. Your wicker collection is sorted and to one side, and the Ebay packaging materials have been gathered into some sort of order. There is also a beautiful box full of goodies that are going to be donated to children in the coming weeks. I feel so very good about giving away the Barbies and books I cherished as a little girl, knowing that other little girls (or boys, some like that) will get as much enjoyment of of them as I did.
Next task will be organizing the rest of the room into managable portions and trying to convince my parents to just let me donate everything instead of trying to Yard Sale it.
Oh basement, I’m not done with you yet. But know that I’m doing this for your own good.
Love,
Lillian
I will be taking on the basement when I go home next week. It holds most of my sister’s and my childhood toys. My mom and sister are super sentimental so I will probably have to be the one to convince everyone we don’t need these things anymore. I hope I’m strong enough. My mom wants to have a “Grandma Box” so many of the toys still in good condition will end up there. I hope to find all the original outfits for my Barbies so I can display them. Congrats, littleteacup, on making such a big dent in your basement! Hopefully I can follow your example.
