M is for Moving Box

M is for that moving box that you never unpack, but instead just shove into the back of a closet and never see (or think about) again until the next time you move. This box has always been known to me as "the corn syrup box." It has been with me through six (or more!) moves and until this week, I haven't really known what's inside of it. I've only known that it's stuff I never need to use but also stuff I can't bear to throw out, for some reason.

So, after I kicked this box out into the hallway to take the picture you see above, I decided to scrap all my plans for the day and go through the box. Inside I found old coffee mugs, years' worth of Christmas gifts from my grandmother (who must think that I am still eight years old), box after box of old letters and notes, items borrowed that I always meant to return but the identity of the original owner was unknown, accessories to appliances that I no longer own. I ended up recycling/tossing most of the contents of this box, I saved the letters, and set aside anything "worthwhile" for donation to the thrift shop. It took me hours to go through the box. I'm glad I did, though, because now I don't have to move it all around the country, and the box has finally found its rightful place in the recycling dumpster.

Of course, this means that I will soon inadvertently create another "corn syrup box" to hold all of my odds-n-ends of life, things I can't use but can't give up. And in another ten years, I'll go through that and get a surprising look at what my thirties were like. An accidental time-capsule.