Keepsake Box Part II

   Last week I wrote about helping a friend's mother move into an assisted living facility.   This past weekend I helped my wife's family move my mother-in-law into a nursing facility.

I should clarify that last statement because she has already made the move to the nursing home, but now the time had come for the family to accept the idea that she would not be returning to her apartment.    Her rental agreement was cancelled and we needed to move her things out.     At one time she and her husband lived on a farm with a big house.  My father-in-law passed away 10 years ago.   A couple years after his passing, my wife's mother moved from the big house on the farm to an apartment in town.    A few years ago she made the transition from living in a self sufficient apartment to the assisted living phase.

   In the past couple months she has now moved to the nursing home  because at the age of 92 it has become difficult for her to manage on her own.   No one wants to make that kind of move, but when you reach a point where you need some additional health care, the option of staying home alone is no longer an option.
   So the next question is "what do we do with mom's stuff".

    And so Pam and her brother have been busy collecting and dividing up the "stuff".     The thing is that you realize that some of this "stuff" has special meaning to the one who has been hanging on to it all these years.   Part of the problem is that it may not be so special to the next person who acquires it.    Example:   an old camera that took many pictures back in the forties;  a gift from a grandmother a couple generations ago;   Grandma's silverware that was given to her from her husband as a gift on some anniversary from years ago.    The list goes on to include jewelry, antique glassware, old coins and even some old stamps.   And of course there is that old rocker; that old clock;   all those towels;   and let's not forget that analog TV that just runs perfect.   Even a transistor radio.   So we have packed up a lot of "stuff".   We have given some of that "stuff" to the grand-kids.   Trips have been made to Goodwill.    Finally this past week it looks like the last of my mother-in-laws things have been dispersed.

    So as I piddled around on the keepsake box this past week I could not help but think about my "stuff".    Oh boy!    (There will be so much sandpaper to divide up...)   I have a lot of "stuff" that will have to be hauled out of here someday.    I could not help but think about all the projects that I have blogged about in the years past and wonder just where they will end up.    Who will be forced to clean up my "stuff" so that the apartment in my future (I plan to live in my wood shop)  can be emptied out?

   Once I get to my 2017 goal of eliminating my wood scrap pile I think I will have to look at setting up a "Craig's List" account.   Or maybe master the e-bay world.     Or have an auction or something.    (Do people have auctions anymore?)
     Well needless to say, the time that I spent working on the keepsake box the last seven days was not enough.    I had promised I would have it done by this writing and I do not.

   I finished the lid.   I have the hinges lined up and ready to install once the stain and varnish have been applied.    I have the base all cut out and glued to the side of the box.    Next week I will have to do a little touch up sanding, apply the last of the stain and finish with a few coats of varnish.  
    Once that is done, I fear I will have only added another item to the list of  "stuff" that will have to be given away someday.     Hmm...    The cycle just goes on and on.