Well, he did it. Adam’s grandfather got married. Again. At the age of 88. His grandfather is quite the individual. He’s about 3 times my age and is as active as I am ~ although not quite the same activities. He doesn’t have 4 littles to run around with/after. So, he married a woman 14 years younger and he has moved into her house, about 2 1/2 hours away. The way he moved, it really is the best way. For the mover, anyway. What he did was only take the things that he wanted: his clothes, his computer, a couple of lamps, and other small things here and there. What did he do with the rest of his stuff, you might ask? Well, he left if for all of us to go through and decided what to do with it.
So, we have been sorting through things and seeing what we’d like or not like. This has been a real interesting process. You see, since he’s moving and essentially getting ride of all his stuff, he decided to just give out what was in his will for all the boys to get anyway. So, Adam got all his spiritual books (he and his 1st wife were pentecostal and really into the “name it, claim it” group, TBN and the like. So there are a number of book along those persuasions that Adam doesn’t want. But there are also a good number of old, worthy books that hes keeping). Benjamin got all of the furniture, Micah got the riding lawnmower and the deck furniture (which was only given to him when my mother-in-law asked him what he was going to do with it and he realized that Micah wasn’t getting anything), and his daughter, my mother-in-law, got the kitchen stuff. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t make much sense to me either. You would think that the only surviving child would get the bulk of the “inheritance” not the youngest grandson (Benjamin). Gives you a big hint about their relationship, doesn’t it? But, that is what he wanted to do and it was done.
There were two book shelves, about 7′ tall and 3-4′ wide, that I had asked if anyone wanted. Everyone said no and so I started to plan where I would put them. I wanted to put them in the school room because my sewing cabinet was broken and dangerously leaning to one side. I wanted to use the book shelves to replace it and the other metal book shelf unit we have in there. I also wanted to bring all the children’s books out of the living room and put them in the school room. So I was real excited when we went to go get them on Thursday. Can you imagine my surprise, and keen disappointment, when we got there and they were gone? I was under the impression that no one else wanted them, so why were they taken? I was upset. I didn’t say anything and I tried to hide it as best as I could, but I have a feeling I failed for the 1st 10 minutes or so. That’s about how long it takes me to get over being disappointed (for the most part).
Once we got home, I was thinking to myself, “Micah gets the house (the house is owned by my in-laws and Micah and family are moving into it), Benjamin gets the furniture and we get the junk”. I know, I know. I kept telling myself the same thing I would say to someone else, “You guys didn’t have to get anything at all. Be grateful for what you’ve gotten.” But it didn’t work as well as I wished it had. I was still complaining in my heart.
I asked Adam what could we do with what we have and we came up with a good idea. he fixed my cabinet, so it now stands up strait. We moved a cabinet up from the basement that came with the house ~ it’s a real neat one. It was an old canning cabinet with glass pains in the doors. It is authentically “distressed” and it the same color as the walls in the school room. I was going to paint the doors and front of the cabinet, but Adam likes the crackling paint look, so I only painted the top (which had never been painted) and one of the sides (which had water damage at the bottom and looked real bad). I then used contact paper, which is the same color as the cabinet, and covered the shelves inside. Our books are in there and the children’s books are on the metal shelving unit. My sewing cabinet is moved to the other side of the room and is much more convenient to where I sit and sew.
I must say, I’m happier with what we did, with what we had, then if we had gotten something “new”. The cabinets are nice, yes. But they are also a dark stain and I don’t like dark stained wood (although our bedroom furniture is a dark set and it actually looks good in there. But I think that’s because all the pieces are dark they match). We now also have a really neat looking cabinet with that popular “distressed” look and we didn’t have to pay a thing for it.
Of course, I’m repentant of the bad attitude that I had. And I’m grateful that things worked out like they did. It was a good lesson for me to live with what we have, instead of looking for “new” things to get and use. Being content is something that I struggle with from time to time. I know some day I will have victory over this struggle.
Besides, Benjamin took all that furniture (which was a lot and much of it were big peices!) and he lives in a teeny, tiny house. Much smaller then the house Grandpa lived in. If he’s willing to put most of that furniture in there, then he must need it far more then I ever will. Yikes!