By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
I suppose most families have one of these – the pile of stuff they keep meaning to call someone and have pick up. The pile is usually full of odds and ends, a lamp here, a bag full of old clothes there.
Our pile had taken root in the middle of the garage and had pretty much become a household fixture. If I ever didn't know what to do with an old book or an article of clothing that didn't fit, it went into the pile. The stuff that didn't sell during the latest disaster of a garage sale went there, as did most of my husband's old Christmas decorations (though it was tough to get him to throw out the ugly wooden ornaments that were in plastic wrappers so old they'd yellowed).
I kept reminding myself to call someone to come pick the stuff up but it was another one of those things I never quite got around to. Until last weekend, that is, when Greg pronounced the pile of stuff was spilling over into the spot reserved for the often washed but rarely driven motorcycle.
"It's got to go," he said.
I made a couple of calls and made arrangements for a charitable organization to come and pick up the items.
"What exactly will we be picking up?" the lady asked.
"There's a sofa," I replied. "It's in really good shape if you don't look too hard at the front. I've had it since college, so you can imagine it's seen some hard times.
"And there's a lamp with a stained shade, some clothes I wish I could still fit into and some more that would be perfect if you went to a Halloween party with a 1980s theme.
"There's a lot of books, most of which I bought because I thought I would read them and never did. There's one book on Franklin D. Roosevelt I hear was outstanding. The history of Jimmy Carter's presidency is supposed to be interesting, too, but apparently not interesting enough so I'd actually read it.
"There are roller blades – don't ask – and some old tennis rackets. There's also a machine for exercising your abs that I bought and was sure I would use daily. I did, too, at least until I discovered it really hurt to use the thing.
"There are lots of shoes. I had to make room in the closet for the new ones. And there's a hat or two, too. I thought those were a good idea at the time but you know how that goes.
"And there's…"
"Ma'am," she interrupted. "I just needed to know the general size of the items we're picking up."
"Oh," I replied, stopping short in my walk down memory lane. "I guess you could say it's about a pile."
"Thanks," she said. "We'll be there Tuesday."
She hung up the phone. I didn't even get the chance to tell her about those ugly Christmas decorations.