Renee Hawkley In Joy!

When our six sons exercised the annoying habit of throwing balls in the house, their father would raise his arms high above his head and loudly declare, "This house is NOT a gym!" Unfortunately, his arms were raised all too often in frequent reminders of that standard. Until one fateful day when the boys were subdued by a single "pass" that beheaded All Three of my cherished "heritage" statues that resided on top of the piano. Fortunately, the heads were reattached, and the ball-throwing stopped . . . at least in the living room. But my favorite part of this tale is remembering the solemn occasion when our grown children and I were gathered in that same living room to plan the untimely funeral of their father in November, 2004. As our session drew to a close, son number five lightened our hearts by asking, "Does this mean our house is NOW a gym?"

Musings on Moving by Renee Hawkley I'm Not in a hurry, but when I leave this earth, "every single thing I own"  will not be coming along.   SO In the meantime, when considering what to do with  "every single thing I own," one question is key.  Is this "thing" useful to me Now or to my family in the future?  If the answer is "Yes," I need to: • Get "every single thing I own" that I no longer use or need into the hands of family members who need or will use them, thus giving me a voice in where "every single thing I own" goes And giving family members ownership in whether they Want "every single thing I own" - - or not.  Do it Now.  • Get memorabilia (scrapbooks, photos, digital, stories, etc)  into useful, digital formats.  Then distribute them.   Do it Now.  All other "things" not deemed needed or useful to me or my family can be delivered to, donated to, or simply sifted out of th...