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  1. Kathy Myers

    They stood in the garage and watched the dumpster being delivered to the driveway.
    “Oh shit, I think we went overboard. We”ll never fill this up.” Mike walked into the cavernous space and deposited an ancient cobwebbed vacuum cleaner in the corner. “I should have rented the smaller one.”
    “Too late now” Rick said. The two brothers were under the gun to clear out everything in their dad’s shop because the house had been sold. The “Everything must go!” estate sale organized by the girls, had cleared out most of the interior, with the profits divided equally amongst the grandkids. The boys were given the task of tackling the shop.
    The process of sorting through eighty years of worldly goods was slow because sentimental journeys always are. Each item triggered comments and questions from: “Why in the hell did he save this crap?” to “Do you remember when Dad made this?” They found everything from his beautiful handmade telescope, to an old box of nails rusted into a solid mass. The shop was full of surprises: a carefully hidden stack of vintage Playboys, and the skeletal remains of a rat in a trap.
    They bickered, they laughed, they shared the memories each object evoked. By nightfall they had worked their way to the back of the shop, and back through time. They sorted through things that when stowed were useful, but over time had become trash. At nightfall they were done; the huge dumpster was full, and the two brothers exhausted. A few items were set aside to keep, but the most precious objects that remained were memories—divided equally between them.
    In the process of clearing away the the cluttered workshop, the two men found just the tool they needed. Remembrances of good times past would enable them to pry themselves away from the house that had been their home.

    1. mcullen Post author

      Wow, Kathy. This piece is evocative of what many people go through. . . sorting through one man’s treasures. Your last line . . . so poignant . . . sums it up beautifully and should be embroidered on a pillow, or burned into a piece of wood. . . to help the newly grieved, or still grieving survivors let go gracefully and good-naturedly.

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