Cleaning out the Kitchen Drawers and Strolling Down Memory Lane

Lisa-Me-Carolyn Sundance Utah

If I keep up this pace I will have my entire house sorted in less than a month, it is only day 1 of my new life. The family scattered today, some skiing , some working, and some enjoying another day off. I decided it was time to start, and that meant tidying up a bit. I have a drawer in my kitchen that I call the messy drawer. Somehow over the past few years that one designated messy drawer had infected all of the others in the kitchen , so today it was finally time. I started with the worse drawer but quickly realized every drawer was an assortment of half used candles, dried up sharpies and old photos.

The counters quickly became full of different piles, and the garbage bags quickly became weighted down with old phone books, coloring books, and papers. Its amazing what pictures end up being thrown in drawers over the years. We have lived in our current home for 7 years. It was a move that took us 2,200 miles from our last home and a move that we paid for by the pound, but still I found myself sorting through a lifetime of pictures and memories tossed aside.

My mother is 86 years old, is the mother of 4, grandmother of 17 and great grandmother of 4 with number 5 on the way. She has often said how she confuses herself with me and my sisters, feeling like she should be the Mother or the new grandmother. The generations have somehow become blurred. I have found myself scratching my head looking at pictures of my own grown children as I sort through random photo's thrown in drawers over the past few years. What has made it even more confusing is that my father-in-law is moving and we sorted through boxes of my husbands family memorabilia just a few days ago. I have become my Mother and my Children have become me.


"Nostalgia is often triggered by something reminding the individual of an event or item from their past. The resulting emotion can vary from happiness to sorrow. The term of feeling nostalgic is more commonly used to describe pleasurable emotions associated with and/or a longing to go back to a particular period of time."

The counters are all cleared off and the drawers and cabinets are all organized. In one afternoon I have moved from Connecticut to Utah and watched my daughters grow from children to young ladies, some with husbands and children of their own. My son is now a young man. I can hear my Mothers cautionary words from years ago, "they grow up so fast, enjoy every moment." Thanks Mom, I did, I am, and I will.