, 
“If you haven’t used it or missed it in three months, you can probably just throw it out.”
I gasped when someone gently suggested this as a solution to our delayed unpacking.
It’s been nearly a year since we moved Matt out of the old farmhouse that got bulldozed, and it’s been four months since we moved into our new home that went up in its place.
Yet, the machine shed at our place is still full of boxes, furniture and miscellaneous stuff waiting to be assigned to their new locations.
And waiting.
And collecting dust.
And prompting bewildered comments from visitors when the overhead doors happen to be up (revealing what looks like a garage sale).
Except the stuff is not for sale. It’s our stuff that we may or may not actually need.
We don’t know, because we haven’t felt motivated to make the final push for unpacking.
After moving Matt from his house, moving the boys and me from my house and (finally) moving all of us back into the new home, we had all lost our appetites for any more moving.
We’d both been in our respective homes for nearly 20 years, and moving was a big deal. Getting married was a big deal. The past year has just been a pretty big year.
So, we’re taking a little break.
Still.
Four months later.
We have what we need, and we know where to find what hasn’t yet been unpacked.
For example, when the college kid left home with his Pizzazz pizza maker, we dug out Matt’s Pizzazz from a box marked “kitchen stuff” in the shop.
That’s where I also found some sharp knives to replace some bad ones from my place that we threw away. And a mixing bowl to replace the one that got dropped.
Last weekend a box spring and mattress found their way to the guest bedroom, because we’re expecting overnight company this weekend.
And we’d better find the snow boots and mittens pretty soon, because we all know winter’s coming.
A co-worker (who started working with us in February) recently complimented me on my new sandals and scarf.
“Oh these old things?” I laughed. “You just haven’t seen these yet. I found them in a box that I forgot to unpack.”
It was a bonus discovery for me, too. I put them away for the winter a year ago, and they haven’t seen the light of day since. They felt new again.
It’s better than shopping.
True — this isn’t an ideal way to live, but it’s working for us until we muster the motivation to finish unpacking.
Until then, please don’t suggest we throw away what hasn’t been missed over the past several months.
I prefer to approach the random rediscoveries as moments of appreciation for old items that — one by one — get welcomed into our new lives.