I tried to think of an old object I own and there really isn’t much. I’m the type of person who throws away everything. And if I don’t throw it away, I’d probably end up losing it. I have very few possessions that are irreplaceable in my mind. My boyfriend actually gets mad at me about it, sometimes I go overboard in my quest to declutter. So my search for an “old thing” around the house was actually really quite difficult.

However, I did find a fairly new thing that will eventually become an old thing that I will not throw away. My mom made me a very intricate quilt for my birthday last year. She has four daughters and has made each of us a blanket; for some reason mine was last even though I am the eldest. It covers a queen-sized bed – I can’t imagine how much time she took to make it. Each square was meticulously cut from fabric that she had collected from going to thrift stores – one of her favorite pastimes.

I think of a time my mom is gone and I look at this quilt and will think of her – sitting there, thread by thread, passing the time by, making something that she hopes her daughter will enjoy. Something very personal. Something that she is proud of. And I won’t only just think of her sitting there sewing, I’ll imagine her perusing the thrift stores for hours and hours finding joy in great finds and being amused by the little knick knacks she comes across. Many of which she will probably take home into her cluttered home. She’ll be gone then and I won’t be able to lecture her for collecting “junk” anymore. But for now, we’ll continue to bicker about it and make happy, sad memories that I will hold on to for years to come.