In his book, Spare, Prince Harry bemoans being the “spare to the heir” to the throne of Britain. I can assure him a spare is important. Here is how I know.
Having been warned to take only half of what I thought we would need in an independent living retirement community apartment, and then take only 1/3 of that, I set about a mighty four-year purge, planning to move at age 80.
Early in the planning, I guided our daughter through our home’s basement, asking what I should keep and what she would like to have. Probably not wanting to appear greedy or eager for my death, she reluctantly chose one or two Christmas items and strolled past everything else, saying, “I think you should keep anything that has sentimental value for you.”
That’s the problem. It all has sentimental value to me. I treasure every silver bowl, baby dress, and grandpa’s pipe.
I keep a stiff upper lip and we go back upstairs and drink Diet Coke.
The easy stuff goes first. Four SUV loads of accumulation go to the church's annual rummage sale. A used bookstore buys some books; others are donated to the library. Our free driveway items are snapped up by neighborhood lawn service workers.
Still, there’s too much stuff. The rest will go into an estate sale. I love vintage linens. They require ironing. No iron is going with me. No ironing board either. Into the sale pile goes the linens.
The retirement community provides meals. Out go a turkey roaster, a large chili pot, and a Pyrex lasagna dish. Out go two large dining tables. On the chance we will someday acquire a tiny dining table, I keep two poly-cotton placemats. With only Tom and me and with meals in the dining room provided, two placemats will be plenty.
And now here we are. The planning and purging have paid off. Our remaining furniture and new tiny dining table fit nicely into the apartment.
Too nicely, actually. Sometimes our daughter brings us a meal and joins us. Even for only a casual meal of subway-type sandwiches, we need three placemats.
We have only a pair. No spare.
See, Prince Harry. A spare is important. Count your blessings.
We do. Every day.
