Letting Go

July 20 will be four years since I got the call that Mom was sick. After six weeks in the hospital, she died in hospice in September 2004. I still can't believe it's been four years already!

When Mom died, Mary and I split up a lot of Mom's stuff. One of the things I got was Mom's plate collection - 168 in all. My plan was to get them home and find a collectibles dealer and sell the set. Well, that didn't happen. Part of me just wanted to hold on to them because they were so cherished by Mom, and I didn't want to get rid of that part of her. Yes, I know... plates do not equal moms. But it wasn't like the plates replaced her. I guess I just wasn't ready to let go of her or her collection just yet. So they've been sitting in their boxes in the basement for almost four years. Finally, I've decided it's time to put some feelers out there and get them out of my house and into someone else's. But not just anyone - I wanted someone who would display them and enjoy them, like Mom did. She wouldn't want them in dingy boxes in my basement.

So I posted an ad on Craig's List for the ones I'm willing to sell. (I'm keeping a few, and so did Mary.) One man bought some of Mom's plate filing cabinets (yes, there is such a thing). Then I got an email from a nice woman named Ann. We discussed which ones she would like to buy, and she just came by this afternoon and picked them up. She bought 28 of them, which makes me so happy. I told her Mom's story, and she told me how much she likes to collect and display plates. I helped her load them into her minvan, and as she closed the trunk, she said, "I'll take good care of them." My throat closed up and my eyes started to sting. I realized that I'm letting go of part of my mom.

Yes, again, I know plates don't equal moms. But these kind of do. I grew up surrounded by these plates (Mom's first one was purchased in 1979, when I was five years old), and now they've gone on to someone else's home, to be someone else's friends and to watch over someone else's loved ones. Just like Mom.

I hope they're happy (Ann and her family, that is!), and I hope she's happy too. Miss you, Mom!