A tug at the heartstrings...

I've mentioned before that I'm renovating my house. Well, one of the best parts of renovating is being able to put things away after you're done. I finished a portion of my study on Friday night and was able to get some furniture moved back into its new place. While I was doing that, I also did some organizing on a shelf unit I brought downstairs from the spare bedroom. I'm in the process of getting rid of things I don't use. If I don't refer to them, then they get tossed, donated to Goodwill, or donated to the library. I'm a bit of a card freak. When I'm writing to friends, I will frequently write in a real card and mail it snail mail versus writing an email. I know how much I love getting personal mail (no bills) in my mailbox so I enjoy giving others something to smile about as well. Well, I was sorting through a box of cards when I ran across a birthday cards for great-grandmothers and it suddenly struck me that I no longer have anyone to send it too. My two great-grandmothers, to whom I always sent birthday cards faithfully, have both passed away in the past few years. I had lost a third great-grandmother several years ago, but that one didn't hit me as hard because she had alzheimer's and hadn't remembered me in a long time. I do have a fourth great-grandmother still living but she's quite contrary and we had a falling out 12 years ago. I've never sent her a birthday card.

So I'm standing there looking at this card, feeling a little sad as I remember their passing, and then slowly put it in the pile of cards for Goodwill. It was an unexpected tug at the heartstrings during an otherwise tedious task.