Every Time I Think of You

We have been in the process of a huge decluttering and cleaning out around our house lately.  We have lived in our tiny little house for nine years now, and over that time... well... we have accumulated some things.   Not an extreme amount of things.  There will be no cameras showing up to film Hoarders anytime soon, but the attic has gotten extremely full, and it seems every available nook and cranny has slowly been filled with stuff.  So, as non-hoarders tend to do, we (Nick) decided it was time to clear out and make decisions on what should stay and what should go. 

Honestly, the majority of this work is taking place with attic stuff.  everything is coming down, getting sorted through, and the things worth keeping are going in plastic tubs rather than the odd assortment of cardboard boxes they were in originally.  It's a tedious process (especially for Nick, who I must admit is doing most of it) but it also feels good to get rid of all these things we do not want or need. (WHHHHY do I keep things like empty perfume boxes... not even the bottles, the BOX the bottle came in. And yet I got rid of all my childhood toys like my My Little Pony's.  NO ROOM!  Must make space for EMPTY BOXES!)

So anyway, that is a long introduction to lay the groundwork of "We are cleaning out the clutter in our house", but that's what we are doing.  In our kitchen we have six little shelves that surround the window.  Those shelves have accumulated things over the years.  Some things I love, like the small jar of buttons, the lemon pitcher and the tin pans.  Other things... like the Chewbacca glass and the Harry Potter Coke bottle,  I am more okay with not seeing on a DAILY basis.  So when I noticed Nick had cleaned up the area, decluttering and just keeping the most important things, I was pretty happy.  Then I noticed a small ceramic plaque  that had been moved off the shelf and hung on the window.
 
And my eyes filled with tears. This little plaque, tucked away on the back of a shelf in the kitchen... mostly forgotten and never really seen anymore.  But of all the things he packed up, or moved around, this got hung up, displayed on it's own. And it's not a Nick saying, or a Nick looking plaque... I would never expect him to look at the items on the shelves and pick this for prominent display. 

 "Nick must remember," I thought, "that this was our wedding present from Missy.   He must have seen it and known what it would mean to me." 

So I asked him, did he remember this was a gift from her?  He didn't.  I guess it just felt right to display it.

And in my heart, I feel like he had a little push from her.  A little help with what to sort into boxes and store, what to put back on the shelf, and what might be the most important thing in this kitchen, and worth displaying.

Seven years ago when she gave us this wedding gift, I never would have thought it would touch my heart, and be as true, as it is today.