Who do you think you are?

We’re having a bit of a clear out; it started yesterday, with Anniemay. She’s ‘remodelling’ her study as our transatlantic friends would say.

The idea is this; she takes everything off her shelves and out of her filing cabinets, sorts out what’s staying and what’s going and puts it all back. But like all grand ideas, there’s a gap between intent and execution. To begin with, she has far more stuff than she imagines. So a simple ‘chuck’ pile and a ‘keep’ pile won’t work. Boxes are sought, then set out in the garage and the two piles become ‘definitely chuck’, ‘possibly chuck’, ‘might keep’, must keep’ and ‘oh god - I don’t know’.

We stop for a break and a coffee (and I mean we - those boxes don’t get into the garage on their own). What then starts as a discussion about how best to sort out her stuff becomes some sort of existential discussion about the meaning of life.

Anniemay; “I don’t know why I’m keeping all this” (points to ‘might’ and ‘must’ piles) “I know what’s going to happen - when I’m gone the children are just going to throw it all in a skip”. She says this as a matter of fact and not as a matter of regret.

I point out that many of these things - photographs from her first teaching job, things her pupils gave her and souvenirs from holidays, trips and so on - say a lot about who she is. “No - they say who I was then.” And with that she goes back to her sorting.

It’s an interesting point; this need to hang on to the past. I’m guilty of this myself. I still have some of my first university course work. Why on earth would I keep that? And a Texas Instruments Scientific calculator c1975 (dead). ??? Could I dump all my ‘stuff’ in a skip right now and save the children a job?

Anniemay is off playing today with one of her sisters so I attempt a bit of my own de-cluttering and come across this; my National Registration Identity Card. Like lots of things you stumble across in the nooks and crannies of your life, it raises more questions than answers.

These cards were first issued in 1939 and finally withdrawn in 1952. They show DOB and place(s) of residence and in the case of an adult, occupation. Mine tells me that in the first three years of my life, I lived at five different addresses, two of them in Scotland. And of course I want to know why?

I was vaguely aware that we moved about, but the details where never fully explained. The card tells me that at the age of three I lived with an Aunt in Glasgow for two months. I recall that my mother was in hospital. The reason was never discussed - I can hazard a guess - but that’s about it. And the people who would know are long gone. There are no more entries after 1950.

On the face of it, this identity card falls into Anniemay’s “it says who I was back then” category, suggesting nothing of the here and now. But I’m not sure that’s completely true. This simple card tells me a lot about who I am now. I am a baby-boomer with all that that implies. And anyone who can still ride a bike and go to the gym can slot into a sub-group - the Peter Pan Pensioners - those retirees who are a lot fitter than those in work. (And with cooler clothes. Possibly).

But best of all, it tells me that I grew up - came of age - in the 1960s, with all the sensibilities and values that were engendered then; i.e., people matter and the planet matters. And we can do anything want to, if we put our mind to it. And that is something I am eternally grateful for.

Which is all very well, but doesn’t solve the problem of what to throw away. I'm keeping this though.