After years of hoarding, I’m slowly getting rid of things. Shredder is my new friend | Opinion

I get a lot of mail from different organizations wanting a donation. You, too?

You mean I am not the only one singled out for this purpose? Anyway, I find that one of the hardest chores for me to do is to throw out old letters requesting money for certain charities, junk mail and catalogs.

Try as I may, instead of throwing stuff away, I just seem to keep making new piles, because, I say to myself, “... One day, I might need something from one of the catalog; and I’ll keep the letter from this charity because later I might be able to send them a donation.“

And so, stuff just starts to pile up. I place the catalogs into plastic bags and the envelopes requesting money in another bag. Looking around, I realize I have become an honest-to-goodness bag lady.

I have always tried to support some organizations that I think are doing something to combat life-threatening diseases, and those that help the needy and feed the hungry. The problem is, I am on a fixed income, as I know many of you are, too. I have learned that when I give to one charity, it seems to set off a chain reaction with other charities climbing aboard the bandwagon.

They all want a piece of my meager income. Once I counted how much I had donated in one month and it was more than my grocery bill. No wonder I found myself short of cash at the end of the month. It used to be that a donation of $10 was plenty. Not anymore. Now, I am getting requests in the mail asking for $50 and up.

And when you can no longer afford to send a check in the mail, some organizations will call, each and every day, asking for a donation. They do the recorded thing so when you want to explain why you can’t donate at this time, the voice just keeps on talking. Then, you realize that nobody actually hears you. That’s because the voice on the other end that keeps on talking is a RECORDING!

Once I really did get a human on the phone asking for money. I listened to his speech and then I tried to explain why I was no longer able to contribute:

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I am on a fixed...

That was as far as I got before I heard a familiar disconnect sound from the other end of the phone. The person asking for my donation had hung up on me. A light bulb came on in my head: The caller didn’t care, at all, about my financial plight. He didn’t want to hear that I would give if I could afford to, but not at this time.

I was insulted. I looked at the phone. But the man was just doing his job. And it wasn’t to listen to my sob story. So, on to the next Ms. Easy-to-get-her-money.

I never forgot that call. Although I can’t give to as many charities as I would like to, I keep getting bulk mail with all kinds of gifts I don’t need, can’t use and don’t want. On several occasions, I have received large envelopes in the mail containing everything from hand gloves, socks, ballpoint pens and greeting cards to seasonal table decorations and throws.

And I can’t forget the address stickers and the stickers-just-for-fun that I receive on a regular basis. I will never live long enough to send all the Christmas, birthday and assorted greeting cards I have received over the years from different charities.

Frankly, I would rather the charities use the money they spend on these items on the actual work they are doing. Makes good sense to me.

Anyway, back to my piles of stuff. I think I have come up with a way to take care of the problem. Since I know I will be getting more letters each month requesting funds, I will just shred and throw them away until I can afford to contribute to the legitimate charities.

So, I’ve started the process of de-hoarding and de-cluttering. I am trying really hard to throw away the catalog with the pretty skirt that I can just see myself wearing. I look at the date on the cover. I got this one in 2020. Four years ago. Do they even still have the skirt in stock?

As a writer for more than 50 years, in addition to old magazines and catalogs, I have accumulated quite a treasure of old letters — from readers, from my editors and from friends. It takes time to go through bags and boxes of paper and unopened envelopes. It is like taking a stroll down memory lane. It is hard to part ways with them.

Among the papers are letters from friends who have long since died. I have held on to their letters or cards purely for sentimental reasons. In one envelope, there was a card with a monetary birthday gift. Somehow this card got buried beneath a pile of other mail and was overlooked and stuffed into a bag with other papers. Some of the papers were old bills that were paid years ago.

“I guess it’s safe to trash them,” I say to myself. And into the shredder they go.

As I clear away the old bills and letters and cards, I start to feel a sense of relief. It is like a burden is being lifted from my shoulders. While I still have a long way to go before my office meets Sister Ida Belle’s approval of neatness (that’s my Momma, ya’ll), she would be proud to know that at least I am trying.

My mother didn’t hold on to stuff the way I do. She kept all her important papers in one neat little bundle in an old handbag. She would never approve of my four filing cabinets and a desk that looks like it was hit by a whirlwind.

I’m trying, Momma. Besides, I don’t want to leave a mess behind for my family to have to sort through.

So, as I tear off the back page of a favorite catalog with my name and address and place it on a pile of papers to be shredded, I place the rest of the catalog in the garbage bag. But not before I take another look at the skirt.