365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

In case you missed it

by

Raesha left this comment on Friday in response to ~Don’t let it linger – Donate~ and I just had to make sure everyone had a chance to see it. I know you don’t all have time to read the comments so please enjoy her story if you missed it…

Thank you for this great post today. I wanted to share a story with you that perfectly illustrates this point. My grandpa passed away a little over two years ago and one of the things I inherited from him was his organ – a big old beast of a thing – that required us to haul it from California to New Mexico (After it had been hauled to California from Washington by my uncle). That organ was huge – it took up almost one whole wall in our living room. But it was VERY sentimental to me – I had played that organ everytime I visited my grandparents when I was a child and my grandpa loved to listen to me play. I treasured that organ and the memories associated with it. But the room it was taking up just got to be too much…..after much thought my husband lovingly suggested I try to sell it. I listed it on Craigslist for $250 – the day after I listed it I was contacted by a pastor of a small church in Santa Fe that his parish really needed an organ and would I take $200 for it. I decided to donate the organ to this church…..I felt in my heart it was the right thing to do and what an even more beautiful memory I will now have of my grandpa and the organ. The legacy of that organ will carry on…..and I received a beautiful thank you letter from the church that I will keep forever. I took a picture of the organ and will scrapbook it along with the letter – so now my beautiful memory will live on in a single scrapbook page instead of taking up a whole wall in my living room.
Kind of a lot to share – especially for my first comment – but thought you would enjoy reading it.

Here is a link to the comment and the responses it in received.

 

Comments

  3. I did miss it but went over and left her a comment after reading it. A great thing to do.

    I’m so PROUD of my Mom. A little over a year ago we bought a dining table and chairs from a neighbor. After we got it home Mom realized she wasn’t really that fond of it but wouldn’t get rid of it because “we needed a table” and “look at the money we spent.” She has hated it ever since. Our church is having a parking lot sale to raise money to help a team go on a trip to a mission field and do some building. I suggested we give it to the sale since we can’t afford right now to give much in the way of money. She was all for it. I was so excited. So we now need to find a table & chairs we like but brought in a small table we had on the porch for now. Add to that she mentioned that she was tired of having “some of this stuff” in the way and is going too so some more decluttering. Yippee!!

    • Deb J – good for your mom – and good for you; I know from your comments the past few months that you have been patiently helping her make these decisions. No wonder you are proud!

    • Hi Deb J,
      I am so happy for you and glad that you have another wonderful example for us on how it can be easier to let go when the item is going to a worthy cause. I know from previous comments that your mother has trouble letting go yet she found it easier to justify it to herself through this generous donation. This is wonderful! 🙂

  5. Thanks for sharing this comment. I hadn’t seen it either but it’s a great reminder that there are often people who will love and appreciate things that have become a burden for us. The special sentimental attachment only increases when we gift an item to someone who will love and appreciate it too.
    How wonderful that the item was donated rather than sold to the church. I’m sure the grandfather would approve and be so proud of his granddaughter.

  7. Hi Jo, Pat, Suddenly Susan, Katharine, Jude, Meg & Nurchamiel,
    thank you for your comments, this story deserves our recognition. I thought it was a beautiful thing and it brought tears to my eyes.
    It reminded me of when my children agreed to gift something to a lady I worked with when we lived in America. Her mother had died and she had to move because on her own she couldn’t afford to live in the home she once shared with her mother. Moving meant she had to sell the family piano because there was not enough room to store it in the new home. When she told me about this story I knew I had an opportunity to enrich her life a little. At the time my children had a keyboard that we had bought when my daughter did piano lessons at school. We had another keyboard in storage back in Australian and knew we would be returning eventually. Without any hesitation the children agreed to give the one we had with us to this lady. Her joy at receiving this gift and her thrill to share it with her brother who also loved to play was equally matched by the joy it brought my children and myself to have been able to bring her such happiness. I will always remember that day.

  8. We donated a grandparent organ as well. I do have my grandmother’s piano, though, including the original bill of sale (she bought it on installment). It stays in almost perfect tune and we all play it.

  10. I donated my mom’s organ to her church and the congregation was thrilled! Thanks for reminding me of that 🙂 Isn’t it wonderful to help?

  11. Great story. It illustrates perfectly why we shouldn’t hold on to stuff out of obligation or guilt or sentimentality. Someone else can actually use and enjoy the thing, and it really honors the memory so much more this way!!!

    • Hi Cat’sMeow,
      it was a great story wasn’t it and it brings to the open just how satisfying it can be to donate those loved but unneeded items to a worthy cause. It gives them new life so to speak.

  12. Thank you all for the kind words:) It was so freeing to make this donation and I’m hoping it will help me even more in the future in letting go of some of the other things that I am so sentimentally attached to.