Cleaning Closets, Old Letters, Meeting your Parents

Mom passed away in 1996. Dad lived by himself until he just couldn't take care of himself anymore, and in 2002 I moved into his house to take care of him. He passed away that June and I still miss him like the devil. I didn't start cleaning right away, procrastination is my middle name. This summer I did a lot of cleaning, and a lot of shredding too. My dad had kept every bank statement since they moved to Carlsbad in 1947, and some from Roswell and Lubbock. Fourteen boxes full of nothing but bank statements, all with rubber bands and little adding machine tapes paperclipped to them. One four drawer filing cabinet was filled with memories of his life, his honorable discharge from the Seabees at the end of the war, a file with bad investments including a uranium mine, and an entire drawer of newpaper clippings he thought interesting. He had maps, menus and lunch counter placemats from trips that were before my time. There were brochures, museum tickets, and receipts for everything he ever bought.

Dad and Mom were married in Lubbock in 1937. Mom kept letters in boxes. There were letters from Dad to her before they were married, and letters when he was working out of town right after they married. One box contained WWII era V-mail, and almost used up ration stamp books. She kept letters from her "lying in." I found the hospital bill from when I was born. ($204.00 and she was in the hospital for 33 days) That was in my Dad's stuff, not Mom's. All of his stuff was organized in filing cabinets. I learned a lot about my parents. He was romantic and sweet. She was proper and a little sneaky. I found three Roswell bank statements with one check for each month. She put a mink on layaway, bought it, and closed the account. I'm sure my Dad had no idea. Finding all of this was like meeting people I had never known. I'm glad I waited, I might have tossed things away if I had started too soon. I kept some things, shredded a bunch, cried a little, and laughed some too. All and all, I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.