Our “Stuff”

This will be my final “say” on the topic of materialism knowing I previously discussed what the letter “E” should stand for and money being the root of all evil. This installment will speak to our “stuff”.

“Back in the day” I very much enjoyed the comedy of the late George Carlin who created a hilarious routine he called “A Place for My Stuff”. It’s a must-see and certainly available on You Tube. I, of course, will be practicing plagiarism utilizing many terms, phrases, and situations in my text that are discussed by Mr. Carlin in his “bit”.

My “stuff” and I’m pretty certain yours too is nothing more than an accumulation of the material things which you own. Today, someone who has accumulated tons and tons of “stuff” is called a “hoarder” which is defined as a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.

It used to be somewhat customary to “hand down” your “stuff” to the younger generations when the time came whether it be out of kindness or one’s demise. But, today, I’m of the opinion most folks aren’t as sentimental as they once were and could care less about your “stuff”. So, instead, they accumulate their own “stuff”. It’s also somewhat readily known that most folks consider “stuff”, other than their own, to be nothing more than “junk”. So, in essence, who would want other people’s “stuff”.

I’m a bit guilty of protecting my “stuff” and according to La Bear I need to get rid of most of my “stuff”. You know, things like my straight “A” report cards from third grade are a good example. I do occasionally still enjoy looking at old family pictures, class pictures from school, and yearbooks from the “good ol’ days”, but will most likely one day toss them in the “can” burying them and the memories forever. Again, that’s because my “stuff” is nothing more than someone else’s “junk”.

In order to protect one’s “stuff”, you must have a place to store it and keep it safe. That place would be your apartment, condo, or home(s). The more “stuff” you accumulate over time, the larger the place you must have just to store it. If you have too much “stuff” and you can’t store it any longer in your residence you now can put all the extra “stuff” in a storage facility. It goes without really saying, but you must always lock your place in order to protect your “stuff”. We do, though, have a tendency to forget if we ever get robbed, the robbers only want the “good stuff” so very little will be taken.

Our family moved a number of times throughout my career and La Bear would make certain that we would have less “stuff” after each and every move. She would stand there with arms folded until we parted with some of our “stuff” withstanding all protests, threats, and even tears. Even now, every six months, if we have “stuff” which we haven’t used it’s gotta go! In retrospect, by La Bear insisting on our always reducing out “stuff”, we really don’t have that much anymore, or do we?

At The Compound, we, after Master M was born, had a total of seven humans, three dogs, and one cat in residence. Yep, that was a household full, but Baby Bear, Big Red, and Master M along with Betsy and Bella bought their own home a year ago this past April to begin a new chapter in their lives and they took most of their “stuff” with them and, of course, have accumulated more “stuff” since the move. I gotta tell you that Baby Bear has THE CLOTHES and all the matching accessories making her the “Queen of Stuff”.

So now at the Compound, we have two empty bedrooms, but embarrassingly enough seating to accommodate sixty-two people counting everything, everywhere over three levels–that’s a lot of “stuff”! Honestly, though, we have only a small number of family pieces which have been handed down through the generations–a number of paintings from my grandfather and a beautiful heavy leaded crystal punch bowl–hoping the tradition will continue.

My father passed away in 2007, and beginning in 1986, he was a golfer, poker player, and craftsman. When he retired, he rented a garage and turned it into a hobby shop filled with all types of tools and supplies as he was extremely creative and talented. But then there came a time when he gave it all up and rather than deal with all his “stuff” at the time, we waited until he passed. If we had only done what we should’ve done when we should’ve done it–I don’t need to say more!

In 2016, we moved my mother to Richmond from Arlington forcing us to deal with her “stuff” which was an enormous undertaking. Her condo was stuffed with “stuff”. Deep down I wanted to keep most of the antique glassware and a few pieces of antique furniture, but we truly had no place to display it properly taking into consideration our “stuff”. Yes, we had an estate sale and we gave a bunch of her “stuff” away, but we also had to just throw some of it out as well. Going through eighty-five years of “stuff” was tough. It brought back many, many memories along with a bunch of tears some happy, but some sad.

I’m certain sometime soon La Bear will say it’s time to get rid of some more “stuff” as we don’t wish to put our children in the position my mother put us through–it’s really not fair to them and it ain’t their “stuff”–it’s ours and we should deal with it!

A word to the wise, manage your “stuff” and keep it to an acceptable level. Most of it is just represents the importance you place on materialistic possessions that no one else wants. Remember, your “stuff” is only someone else’s “junk”! Having spent a number of years in the transportation industry where we represented the funeral homes in Central Virginia providing stretch limousine service to families, I can vouch that no hearse had a U-Haul being towed behind it. Bottom line is it doesn’t matter who you think you are, no one is taking anything with them!