What do Your Belongings Reveal About You?

Sorting through someone's belongings is an interesting process.  I have helped people move in the past, and have come across some unexpected items.  But in cleaning out my Mom's house, I am learning all sorts of things about her.  Some of those things only further cement ideas I already had about her, while others fly in the face of my preconceived notions.  Some are simple or humorous, while others are more significant.

I think my favorite example was her absentee ballot, which was filled out, but not sealed.  I decided not to mail it, since idea of dead people voting is not very popular. (JFK, Chicago, 1960)  When I looked at it, I was amused to see that my Mom, an outspoken Republican, was still registered as a Democrat.  I recall her mentioning needing to change that many years ago, but she obviously never did.  But she would never vote for a candidate she didn't support, so instead of Obama, she wrote in one of our family friends.  My Dad was listed for State Assembly.  Some other non-partisan offices had regular votes.  But the whole thing was totally different than how I would have expected my mother to approach the voting process.

She wrote ton's of things down, all the time, many of which I am finding around the house.  It gives you a window into what she was thinking about at the time.  The issue is that you can't tell when she wrote them, and she never threw anything away, so I can find two notes saying things that are completely opposite.  But in general, they give you a pretty good idea of what she was thinking about and what she cared about.

One of the prime topics I am most interested in is her perspective on her relationship with my Dad.  Since we "inherit" many of our relationship habits and problems from our parents, I am always trying to better understand my parent's situation. (Primarily to ensure that my eventual marriage takes a very different course) She had written all sorts of things down about that, but once again, without dates, it is hard to identify what she was thinking when.  And thoughts and feelings change over the duration of a relationship, so timing is an important aspect in understanding what happened.  But I have learned a number of things that are very important, and will help me in the future, once I am married, or at least on that trajectory.

It makes me wonder what things I have that people would be surprised to find.  I don't think they would be too shocked by any of it, but I am sure the question of "why was he saving these?" would come up a few times. (But not as many times as I have wanted to ask my Mom that)  Going through text documents on my laptop would probably reveal a few interesting things, but over time I am deliberately sharing those things on here, so there will be fewer and fewer surprises, the longer I continue doing this.