Memo from JB: Wisdom That Comes With Age
Listen and learn, and you will never have to say, ‘Too much to take care of.’
I am going to touch on a subject I have mentioned before. It’s important because I want any younger readers (I’m 48.) to benefit from what I’ve learned.
As my wife and I are preparing for the fifth move of our marriage, we are staring around, mostly in the garage, asking, “Why do we have all this stuff?” To make matters worse, I have spent the last two years spinning off classic cars, motorcycles, bikes, etc.—big-ticket items. I miss them, but I don’t miss taking care of them. More on that later.
You see, when I first met my wife and her parents, roughly 20 years ago, I was amazed at some of their possessions from back in the day. Her father had these amazing cars, some of my favorite bucket-list cars, like a Volvo P1800 or a BMW 635 CSI, just to name a couple. I would quiz him as to why he ever got rid of them. “Too much to take care of,” he would snap back.
Not long after that, when my wife’s younger brothers were out of the house, he filled in the backyard pool with dirt. We thought he was losing his mind. Being inquisitive about his decision to cover a gorgeous Texas pool with an 18-wheeler full of dirt, I would get the same response: “Too much to take care of.”
Not long after that, he moved out of that Dallas home and into a townhome with no yard and an HOA. I knew the reason before asking: “Too much to take care of.”
Now, as I am standing in a two-car garage, staring at items I’ve moved no less than three times, I’m really questioning my last 20 years. I’m staring at boxes of books I’ve already read or those in the to-be-read pile that I’m never going to read. I count at least 15 Target tubs of CDs I’m never going to listen to, nor am I going to display them on shelves in the house. Next to that, a tub of ski gear. I haven’t been skiing in 15 years and those styles would be embarrassing on the slopes if I were to sport them today. I look around at all the lawn-maintenance gear I felt so manly to accumulate: edger, leaf blower, chain saw, tree trimmer, various shovels and ladders. I haven’t even so much as mowed my own lawn in eight years. I have two tubs of vintage cameras, each individually wrapped in packing paper.
I used to want to find the inventor of the Target tub and give him a hug for organizing my life. Given a similar introduction today, I’d punch him square in the lip.
For the sake of not humiliating my wife, I will tell you that we are not hoarders. In fact, people are often surprised by the simplicity and minimalistic stylings of our home. It looks this way mainly because we have been giving away most of our possessions the last few years, selling off what we can, happy to give stuff away when it’s something someone else will use and enjoy.
Having just celebrated my 48th birthday, I find myself wondering, “Where does the time go? Why isn’t life simple and fun like it was in our early 20s?” Do you ever have one of those Saturdays when you are running errands all over the place and everywhere you look, people are having fun, but you are not?
Why don’t we ever have time on the weekend to relax on a restaurant patio and sip on a margarita, talking? Well, because we got busy filling our lives with things, which really just amounted to too much to take care of. Can anyone recommend a dirt company that delivers?
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