Survey #166 Response from Sandra
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| Briefly describe who will benefit from your efforts to declutter and get organized, and how they’ll benefit. Think about members of your household, but also about the larger world—e.g., the people who’ll buy your stuff at a garage sale, the shelter residents who’ll get your donations, the next generation of family who’ll carry a lighter load, and so on. | My children will benefit the most, because the "extra" stuff will be gone. I have already gifted a lot of things to family/friends, with the leftovers going to local thrift shops. I sponsor a family from Ukraine,and gave a lot of household goods to them. Very very little has gone to the dump. When we cleared my parents' home, most of it went to extended family and several young people who were just starting out. (The bonus was that they came and picked things up, so I didn't have to take it anywhere! ) Whatever they replaced of their own with things that had belonged to my parents, they gave to the local Salvation Army thrift shop. We even made cleaning rags from things like old tshirts, instead of throwing it out. The rags are used in my house, then my hubby's shop, and then the garage , before finally being thrown out. Not everyone can do this of course, but we did. |
| Tell us about a memory of a person or incident from the formative years of your life that influenced your attitudes and emotions about belongings, clutter, organizing, or any related subject. (For example: “Grandma’s house was packed to the rafters with stuff.”) | My father grew up during the Depression. I remember my grandmother and mother saying: Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without. and "A penny saved is a penny earned." I remember as a child in the 1950s washing out plastic bread bags and hanging them on the line to reuse. Several children at our one-room school brought their lunch in the pails that Christmas candy came in. Foil was reused if it was clean, or washed first if it wasn't. Hand-me down clothes and patched clothes for play were the norm, although my family was fortunate enough not to "need " to. I remember thinking that when I grew up, I was going to have more than one pair of good shoes! I still only have the basic for footwear, but as a child that was my plan/hope. |
| What is the strongest memory to which you feel connected by way of an object, such as a souvenir, photo, or keepsake? | A brooch from Scotland that my grandfather gave my grandmother in about 1930! She wore it for over 30 years, then my mother had it for over 30 years, then me for about 30 years , and now my daughter has it as of 2023. I remember my grandmother wearing it and hated to part with it, but it'll be good for my granddaughters to see their mother wearing it and know the history of it. |
| Future topics | Photos of ancestors, generational keepsakes |
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