Nothing makes you question your spending habits more than moving.

That bread maker you couldn’t live without. The scrapbooking supplies. The vacation souvenirs. The chicken collection you spent years building because you thought it would bring you joy forever.

Turns out, forever comes faster than you think.

Our recent move happened quickly. Rather than sort and purge as we packed, we loaded everything up and promised ourselves we’d deal with it later. It was late November and we wanted everything moved before the snow flew.

Having sworn off garage sales years ago, I decided being the “new people” was as good a reason as any to host one. The previous owners had lived there for more than fifty years, and the neighborhood was understandably curious about who was moving in. We had their curiosity up; no better way to meet the neighbors than opening the garage and letting them browse our discarded treasures.

Today’s young people don’t want our stuff. They might be interested in refurbishing the old dining room table and chairs, but there’s little interest in dust collectors. Depression glass, collectable plates and teacups are hard to even give away.

Your 1980’s dishes are great for retro yard art or shooting clays. Conversely, I still haven’t forgiven the babysitter that thought it was a good idea to play ball with the kids in the house and broke several of my grandmother’s treasured cup-and-saucer sets back in 2000. 

That shift leaves us with some difficult decisions. What do we pass along now and what do we keep for ourselves? It forces us to evaluate what truly brings us joy and let go of many of the things we’re only hoping future generations will appreciate. 

We shouldn’t be offended, but we are. 

They don’t want their own treasures either. I’m still trying to send my kids home with childhood keepsakes we’ve been storing for more than thirty years.

Call me out of touch or a rebel, but the focal point of my newly remodeled kitchen and dining room will still be my China hutch filled with family heirlooms. We added a wall of cabinets and shelves for favorite knickknacks and vacation keepsakes. The Christmas Village will come out every December.

My kids may box it all up and donate it someday.

But for now, I’m going to enjoy it.

Trendy or not, the China hutch stays.

*As printed in The County Journal on 7-18-26