It started with the book shelves in the study, moved on to the book shelves in the back hallway, into the back bedroom and returned to the study in the file cabinets. It was a purge. Thin ‘em out, toss ‘em out, clean ‘em out!
We whittled down the whole shelf of Holy Bibles we own. Bruce had many Bibles; so did I. We have purchased even more since our marriage. Multiple translations are necessary for good Bible study, however, we still had way too many. Some we had to keep. Ones belonging to our respective mothers, or with special significance. But the duplicates and extras had to go. What to do? Bruce recalled seeing a collection bin at the local Christian bookstore so he gave them a call. They donate them to the local rescue mission downtown they said, so Bruce phoned them. The mission director was delighted! Bruce even took them some religious books he had. He left the mission one big box lighter to the comment — “Bless you, brother!”
Three boxes went to the Salvation Army store, one to the church’s library, and even one box for my dear friend, Betty, another voracious reader. We found three copies of Alice in Wonderland. One is more than enough, don’t you think? We kept those books we couldn’t part with, for whatever reason, plus those we hadn’t yet read. When we lived in the Midwest, part of my “storm preparation package” was plenty to read, just in case we got snow bound for a week — or three. Though that is unlikely here, Augusta did have a three day ice storm in January 2004. I spent a lot of time on the sofa, which was pulled half way between the big window, for light, and the fireplace, for warmth. I even dug out the kerosene lamps so I could read at night. Without TV, the radio and the pets and my books were all the company I had then. I kept a kettle of hot water at the edge of the fire. Books and hot tea go together, especially when ice is hanging from tree branches. But I digress.
We even weeded out the shelves with videos. I found several ones from my teaching days. I had forgotten about the times I had to be videotaped in my classes. Heavens — I was so young and energetic. One was from my days at Laney, the other one from Davidson. It was fun to watch and see my students.
We dug through files and tossed old stuff. We decided the tax files belonged next to the copies of death certificates I have for Dad, Mom, Christine and Dale.
So the trash can is full. The shelves are cleaner. Perhaps it’s time for a trip to Barnes and Noble.
