13 Things I Learned in the Attic

As I mentioned earlier in the week, my siblings and I spent most of last week cleaning out the barn and attic at my father’s house. Along the way there are some things we have learned:

1. Everything collects dust after 30 or 40 years.
2. Do NOT toss things out of a 30 year old attic – see #1.
3. Cardboard boxes disintegrate after 30 or 40 years.
4. Plastic garbage bags disintegrate after 15-20 years.
5. If you place different parts of something in different places – label where the other parts are. (Yeah. There’s a story behind that one.)
6. If it was tied together when it went up there, it might not be together anymore -- see #2 and #3.
7. Label the stuff you put up there, for goodness sake! (If you are the only member of your family who knows why it went up there; don’t expect them to read your mind after you’re dead.)
8. Some things are trash. Do not put them in the attic.
9. The contents of any given box may not be the same as the graphics on the box indicate.
10. Wigs, hats and hairpieces that looked good 30 years ago, but that have been squashed under more boxes, don’t look good anymore.
11. Some stuffed animals will change color after 20 or 30 years.
12. It is not necessary to keep every piece of paper your children touched with a paintbrush.
13. Different people will always have different ideas of what is trash -- and what is not.