Sorting through the Past

Dumpster arrives

This past week we finished the major overhaul of Megan’s parents’ garage. It’s a spacious garage with lots of overhead storage space, so that means that forty years of storing has passed without them really having to sort through and get rid of stuff. Boxes of memories, things that could be useful, things that were once useful and randomness.

Living on the islands we don’t own our own houses, so every 3-4 years we go through our stuff when we are heading to the US for a few months. Plus islanders aren’t timid about asking for useful stuff if they think you aren’t using it. As we were leaving this time, we had lots of requests for stuff. Theoretically we are just lending things, but on the islands everyone knows that when you lend something you may never get it back. So it means that we don’t accumulate as much, nor do we have the ample space to store stuff for years and years. Instead we see neighbor kids wearing our kids’ old clothes, semi-broken appliances being put to good use and our old well-loved toys in the homes of our friends.

Lite-Brite fun!

So in our island life, we don’t have the kind of discoveries of things like we’ve had this week. Items coming out of boxes that haven’t seen the light of day for decades. Old toys from the 80’s like Voltron, Transformers, Lite-Brite, Cabbage Patch Kids, Rainbow Bright and Strawberry Shortcake. Leftovers from previous generations like an old army phone from World War II, wigs from a great-aunt, the typewriter from grandma and the anagrammed luggage from grandpa. Not to mention the yearbooks and old photos galore. Then there were the unpleasant surprises like the tent that smelled like something died inside it years ago or treasured mementos that were rotting and disintegrating.

Old wigs!

Then the big questions— what to keep, what to throw away and what would be of value to someone else? We’ve put things on the side of the road and seen items scooped up, we made donation runs to Goodwill, but we also filled a small dumpster with throw-away items. Some decisions were easy, others were hard. In some ways, the fact that things had already been saved for 30-40 years made it harder sometimes. I may not remember a piece of art or writing assignment, but the fact that it was lovingly stored for so long makes us feel a little heartless to just throw it away now. How much weight should sentimental value have and how do we limit how much we keep for the sake of sentimentality?

I wonder how sentimental islanders would be in a similar situation. They don’t buy and sell homes so they have lived in the same locations for generations. They don’t tend to have photos so they value and treasure those greatly. We’ve even seen them faun over photos of people they don’t even know. Hence all the requests by strangers to take our photo and even people asking to take and keep photos of our extended family (people who have never even come to the islands).  So yes, they do get strangely sentimental about photos. But for other items, they usually prefer new to old. They want to display their wealth by having stuff with that shiny, just-bought look. Plus there is the reality that most products imported to the islands are of such low-quality that nothing lasts. Toys rarely make it a single week, let alone long-enough to be passed to another sibling or the next generation. Same with imported clothes, accessories and electronics. Also the climate isn’t kind. The humidity and sea air mean that mildew and rust usually ruin stored items eventually.  Maybe they just don’t have much to get sentimental about.

Getting full!

When we go back to the islands, we’ll have to ask around and see if our island friends have anything left from previous generations. My thought is that having lots of old things won’t be very common, so whatever they do have would definitely hold a sentimental value. Here in the US, we find ourselves with so much old stuff, we just can’t be too sentimental, unless we want to drown ourselves and the proceeding generations with boxes and boxes of stuff, so every once and awhile we have these purges. We sort through the past, we laugh and remember, we share old memories and we let go of a lot. The process may be hard and tiring at times, but ultimately it feels good. We feel less burdened with stuff and the past has been remembered…until another 30+ years?


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We’ve been enjoying some days off with Megan’s parents and brother. It has been nice to give the kids some fun experiences aside from staying-at-home fun! Our teammates have been working hard on the app to make the story of the flood accessible to islanders in their own language— it’s almost ready and looking good!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
A colleague on the islands had been able to reserve a ticket to leave the islands in early August but her flight was canceled and it was confirmed that international flights to/from the islands have not opened yet. It also may be necessary for travelers to get tested for COVID before traveling (something that may be difficult from the islands). Continue to pray for all those that are waiting to travel, for patience and wisdom in making plans. Our teammates on Clove Island are considering what it would look like to reopen our office and restart English classes— pray for wisdom about how to do that well and safely. Pray for an island sister who is having trouble with her colleagues talking bad about her to her boss— pray that she can respond with love and truth.