the importance of *stuff*

hey, y'all - been gone a while, so much going on, with my wonderful Auntie Joan moving on from here and my suddenly being trustee and having to organize her estate.  Going through her 40+ years' accumulation of treasures really brought home to me how we put so much value in 'stuff'... I know everything in her home meant a lot to her, and she would have been horrified to know how little of it has value to anyone else.  Her photo albums, of course, are family treasures and amazing to page through - her history as a dancer and showgirl for the Bluebell Girls in the '40s, traveling through Europe with the troupe; her time in England performing at the London Palladium in the Follies Bergere (she also performed in Paris), the stars with whom she appeared - all show a time that will never be again.  Then she moved to Hollywood, and appeared in several films before deciding to give up show business.  She was an incredible woman.  
But her possesions are just 'things' - the treasures of a person who lived alone.  

It got me realizing that I'm pretty bad about 'things' too - my house is cluttered with stuff.  Much of it is left from other people - I've had other people living in my home since I bought it 10 years ago - but a whole lot of it is mine.  Things that seemed important at the time, but now are just cluttering up my space and taking up room.
I've decided to simplify again - did that nearly 30 years ago, we sold everything we owned and bought a 13-ft travel trailer (no room for 'stuff' in one of those!)  The four of us (my husband and I, our two kids) were happier than we'd ever been when we lived in that.  The simplicity was glorious.  
So I have decided to sell my 6-bedroom, 3-bathroom house, and buy a little cottage in a very rural village 40 miles away.  There is no room there for extraenous belongings - but there is a glorious kitchen, a beautiful location, and peace there.  The littles and I love the place - it currently belongs to very good friends, and the home itself has many happy memories for me already.  It's very small, with a small garden, but established trees and a south-facing aspect.  There's no room there for 'extras' - it'll just be the kids, the dogs, the cat, some chickens and me...which is the kind of life I prefer anyway.
I will be getting away from a hefty mortgage (can buy this house outright) and will lessen the stresses commensurate with owning a large home.  The kids are all always wherever I am anyway, so the fact that this current house is huge makes no difference to the amount of space I have *grin*.

So now I have the process of deciding what goes with us and what to sell or give away. It's all STUFF - none of it really matters tremendously anyway.  I learned a very long time ago now that people matter so much more than things.  I'll never forget one of my foster daughters (you know who you are, sweetie!) when she was messing with a bottle of chemicals and spilled it on the carpet - it ruined the carpet, and her face was a picture of terror.  I was so worried about her and how scared she was, the carpet was completely unimportant but it took a while before she could hear me tell her I truly wasn't upset.  
My little ones (and many foster kids) have damaged and broken many things in the house - it's never something that makes me happy, but it's not earth-shaking either.  It's just 'stuff'.  So much of my 'stuff' is not going to be making the move with us to our new cottage.  I'm looking forward to the freedom!

I know Auntie Joan would have been saddened to see all her little treasures leave the house in the hands of strangers at an estate sale.  Her memories were wrapped up in those - the things she picked up in her travels, the reminders of special people, the perfect lamp for her living room - but that's exactly the issue - they were HER memories and, now she's gone, those memories are too.  
I am so very blessed because my memories are wrapped up in people - things are fun for a while, but none have any real value.  When I'm gone, my kids will keep the odd bits and pieces that have special meaning to them but mostly they will keep their memories of me, our time together, events and occasions that made us laugh or cry together.  I have those of Auntie Joan, but I'm all that's left.  When I'm gone, my kids will have each other, and be able to laugh about our family history, happy and sad memories, silly stories, all the things that make a family cohesive.   And in our new home, we will make many more memories - the celebratory feasts when the whole family gets together, the fun of a new garden and seeing what surprises pop up, the delights of picking peaches at the nearby orchard and coming home and canning, the weekly trips to 'the big city' for groceries, playing in the nearby lake, fishing in the stream right down the road - I'm really looking forward to this!
And I'm looking forward to only having those things around my home that actually have purpose or meaning to me.  I'm tired of stress and clutter!