Memories for Sale

For sale. A resident in this senior apartment community offered a George Foreman indoor/outdoor electric grill for $25. It was just the latest addition to our community bulletin board, as senior residents attempt to downsize. Electric grills sound like a good plan, but many older folks live alone and don’t want to fool with grilling one hamburger or one chicken breast. It sounds like a good idea to “grill four pieces of chicken and save some for later,” but we don’t do that either.

Too Much Patio Furniture

Just recently, a new resident offered two patio chairs for sale. They are lovely chairs, but most of us don’t have room for two additional pieces of furniture. You know they probably moved from a home with a large deck and all the appropriate furniture for entertaining. Now, something’s gotta go.

That is one of the difficult thing about leaving our homes--so many lovely things we no longer can accommodate.

Curio Cabinets, Couches, the List Goes On

Residents have offered mahogany curio cabinets that don’t fit into our apartment dining rooms and six foot long couches that overpower our living rooms.

Even Christmas Decorations

It seemed a bit heartbreaking when one lady advertised her Christmas collection of angels: angel placemats, angel table runners, angel centerpieces. All for only $30. You know those brought her joy when she decorated for her family. I wish I could tell young mothers, who are often so fretful decorating and baking, that those years won’t last forever. There will come a time when even setting up a tree seems too much. And boxes of Christmas decorations will go unopened.

Who Wants the China?

Think about the Christmas china. It’s too much trouble to get it out for a single person. One friend has four children, and over the years she purchased four sets of china to “pass on” to them. Well, you can guess what has happened. None of the kids want or use china. They like “every day” dishes or pottery. So my friend will be taking her sets of china to a resale shop where she will get pennies on her investment.

Recipes, Really?

Another resident posted a note on the bulletin board asking if anyone would like her collection of recipes. For free. Just think, 40 or 50 years of wonderful recipes collected over a lifetime of raising a family. Recipe files say so much about a family. In my loose-leaf notebook of recipes, I have notes saying, “Alex ate this quiche on his first birthday,” and “Abby loved this Inside Out Ravioli.” I have recipes my mother passed on to me when I was a young bride. She typed them with personal comments.

How to Roast a Turkey

For example, in the instructions for how to roast a turkey, she wrote “Take out the package of giblets that are usually stored in the front and back end of the frozen turkey. Rinse out these cavities and salt them. Rinse off the giblets, trim off any excess fat from them, and throw away anything that looks too repulsive to use.”

I don’t know if that lady had any takers on her recipe collection. I get it. We don’t eat the same way we used to. There’s not much demand anymore for “Applesauce Salad” made with lemon jello, cinnamon red hots, and applesauce. But it’s too bad none of her four kids wanted her recipes. They would have found a bit of their own history in those pages.

Today Was Easter

Today was Easter, and the pressure was on to create the perfect Easter basket, wear fresh spring clothes, worship at the church of your choice, cook an Easter dinner or make timely reservations for Easter brunch and coordinate schedules with other busy family members. Did you fall short of perfection? Please try to enjoy these moments; they will be gone before you know it.