The other night I had a dream that left was right and right was left. The next day I got in the car and turned on Waze and as Cookie Monster told me to “turn left” I, for a split second, wasn’t sure which direction that was. I think my sister-in-law was correct when she surmised that it was a metaphor for my life right now. I am feeling very frazzled and very much not myself but it will fade; it isn’t an altogether alien feeling as it happens every time we move.
The house is slowly coming together but it’s taking time to get through 12 crates worth of household goods. How is it possible that a family of four accumulated so much crap that it took 12 crates to store it all? I’ve been going room by room and donating, consigning, recycling, throwing away, or putting aside for a future yard sale. All of this has to be done while the girls are in school because A. They would want to reclaim the things I’m trying to get rid of and B. They would stress me out with their mere presence and having to parent.
As I go through our boxes I realize the biggest hoarder is Marcus which is funny because he’s always giving me flack for buying “stuff.” The difference is, I consign or donate the things I no longer want whereas he keeps EV-ERY-THING and just stashes it. I’m talking things from high school and college. I asked him to go through his stuff and set aside whatever he might not want anymore and he gave me three items. So, he has two giant boxes of clothes and another, slim box stashed under the bed to my one box of clothes in need of a dresser. This doesn’t even touch on the random cords, CDs, and documents that accounted for the last few boxes I opened.
With all that said, there have been a few silver linings within the last few weeks, my favorite being Mr. White (hi, Mr. White!). Mr. White is the grandson of Tonstal and Annie Scott who worked for the Shannon family at Sligo. He was the first person who contacted me when I asked the Shannon Airport to please pass on my information and who gave me Mrs. Scott-Johnson’s (his cousin) information. Anyway, long story short, Mr. White contacted me about a week after we moved in because he had read my previous blog lamenting our lack of mirrors. He had two, door length mirrors in his basement that were never used and he wanted to give them to us because “A woman needs a mirror!” Mr. White, I hope you’re reading this because your kindness filled my heart with such joy and I’m once again astounded at how this crazy thing called the Internet has put me in touch with some of the nicest, most genuine people. Along with the mirrors, Mr. White also gave me a picture of his grandfather that I plan to frame and put in a bookcase along with my other Sligo memorabilia.
Mr. Tonstal Scott, circa 1950s.
Bringing Back Sligo 