Downsizing Isn’t Easy

And yet, downsizing is what my husband and are choosing to do. No one is making us. Thankfully, we both have our health. Bob will probably work for several more years—perhaps forever. LOL We’ll just have to see.

Last year I wrote about how a lakehouse with incredible views dropped into our laps. We weren’t looking to move from our current house that we’ve been in for almost 20 years where we have super neighbors and our great dog walking crew.

But here’s the view:

Here’s what the house did look like:

Here it is in progress:

It’s not finished, but it probably will be in another month or so. We’ll move out there and put our house on the market. Thankful for our daughter Kathryn for many reasons, but she’s a Realtor and will handle all of those issues.

But to move from our 28 hundred sq. ft. two story house to our lakehouse of 1700 sq. ft., we have to lose a lot of stuff!

I’ve already made five trips with a stuffed car to Goodwill. (I know there are some issues with how they manage their money, but they have a drop off place super close to us. Too easy to pass up. Sorry.)

Yesterday, I took two more large bags. Our two large upstairs closets no longer have clothes in them. Even after getting rid of a ton of clothes, now my downstairs closet is jam packed holding all seasons and all sizes clothes! Yesterday I climbed 11 flights of stairs!

The last stuff to take now are all the cocktail/party dresses that both daughters wore when they were younger, and some of my fancy things from days past. I tried to take them to a resale shop, but they only take “high end” clothes. So thank you, but no thanks. I’ve never bought “high end” anything. I’m a medium person. So they will also go to Goodwill. Again. It’s the easiest way to get them out of the house.

Still we’re drowning in books. And Half-Price Books has been the recipient of a slew of them already. You wouldn’t believe how many vacation books we have from our early days of vacationing when Bob looked up everything in books.

I spend my “spare” time, measuring furniture, trying to decide where all the pieces will go. Of course, they all won’t go. That’s one of the meanings of downsizing. A very nice thing has occurred. Our daughter Kathryn will take our Aunt Virginia’s 3-piece dining room set. She will give us her extra-long dining room table.

Laura took an oriental chest that my mother had stored memorabilia of hers and my fathers. Laura also took a queen bed and a desk that had been mine in high school that Kathryn used when she was in high school. Laura already has the matching chest. Again from me to Kathryn to granddaughter Sarah. Very nice.

Kathryn is taking my mother’s piano. Friends are taking one of our sofas. Both girls have reclaimed the toy boxes my father made for them. Laura’s husband refinished hers for their daughter. Kathryn will do the same for her daughter.

So we’re going to make it, but it’s tough. I ran across Bob’s and my love letters we mailed each other several times a week when he was in law school in Austin and I was teaching in San Antonio. Of course, we’re keeping those. Just not certain where, since Kathryn took the cedar chest those (and a number of other things were in). 🙂 But I’m grateful.

So here’s my question for you. What’s your experience with downsizing, either your own or someone you know? What’s the hardest thing for you? Deciding what to go? What to keep? Dealing with the emotions? I found a box holding my mom’s insurance papers and her will. I shed a few tears, even though, she’s been gone over 12 years now. I’m still in awe of how organized she was.

Civics Lesson:

Texas is a part of the March Super Tuesday voting. Please educate yourself about the candidates. Please do vote. When you don’t, you let someone else decide your fate. If you’ve already voted (either early voting here or in one of the early states), good for you. Even if my candidate loses, I feel I’ve taken part in democracy. We all should.

Love to hear from you.