Make the Attic Great Again

I left my unhappy home in 1999 with my clothing, my hi-fi, the Omega watch given to my dad when he retired in 1980 and little else. Storage space in my new life was not an issue I had to concern myself with. 

I was still in pretty good shape three years later when I met Chris. If there’s a polar opposite word for a person who hoards, that word would describe Chris, at least in 2002. Chrissy has a less is more philosophy, I hope that doesn’t say anything about me, but I digress. When we first got together, the only thing in that girl’s basement was the washer, the dryer, and her cat’s litter box. 

Somewhere between 2002 and 2026 things changed. There were things of mine that had been at my folks house that found a new home with me. The beautifully organized walk in attic in our two year home was running out of space for our stuff. We have lived in four homes since we met, and it seems we bought things to adorn each place, and stuck many of the old treasures in the attic. 

So this week we pledged to purge. The cap and gown from my high school graduation; it could make an excellent drop cloth, but no, it’s gone. A box of old routers and mystery cables, gone. TV stands for TVs mounted on walls; I once used a set to build Covid barrier in my office, but they’re in the garbage now. Enough wicker baskets to open a Pier One store, donated. An inflatable bed, maybe used one time, gone. Christmas, Easter, Halloween decorations no longer used, gone. Some really cool giant candle holders; the cancer society thrift store should make some good money on those.  A very manly pair of severe weather boots; homey don’t go outside in deep snow no more. And those 32 inch waist jeans; who am I trying to kid?

Newly emptied storage boxes were repacked with all the donatable items, which now has my SUV bursting at the welds; the thrift store should make a few bucks with all those goodies. Our big garbage tote is stuffed with stuff that no one would be interested in. We also gave our maid some chairs and a humidifier from the office I no longer occupy. 

There are no more loose things cluttering up the attic. The 12 big brown storage boxes are now filled with things we can’t part with; many are nearly empty. Chris numbered them with a big white sharpie, and we created a spreadsheet with each one’s contents. I suppose you could say that we made the attic great again. My children will thank us posthumously.