Leftovers....

What else would you call people who have been married and then divorced? Especially if the ex-spouse remarries. It makes one feel redundant, kinda.

Lots of things qualify as leftovers. I have been dealing with them this week. I am helping a friend sort through all those family papers that are leftover when someone dies. Actually, several family members have died over the years and he is stuck with all the leftovers.

I am helping because I can be slightly more objective. Well, not really. All I did was save everything in better boxes and better order than they were before. And it's been quite a project.

You can learn a lot about another person just by watching them deal with family memorabilia. He is quite sentimental, it seems. Letters upon letters upon letters. From grandparents to parents. Aunts to cousins. From servicemen in Vietnam. Or Europe. Or anywhere.

Marriage licenses. Birth certificates. Wills and Last Testaments. Mortgage papers. Canceled checks. All those things that seem so important. And probably were, at some other time.

It's hard, though, to let go of the leftovers. They are tangible pieces of one's history. They represent where he came from, and who he grew up with, and where. Yearbooks, scrapbooks, training manuals, lettermen's letters, and Vietnam service medals.

Value can only be determined by the holder of the memories. The leftovers only have meaning to the one who is left behind. The one who is trying to keep everything of value, after determining what is valuable. And what is not.

For now, all those treasures are organized in plastic tote boxes, stored safely in his attic. Someday, when it's cold and rainy outside, he can look through them and decide what to keep. And what to throw away. There's no rush: they're safe right where they are. Waiting.

And there are other leftovers: things from another time in my life, too. They have been sorted and given away, thrown away, or kept for another day. One very special thing I found: I have many of the Hallmark Star Trek Christmas ornaments. They are leftovers from other times, other places, other celebrations.

Enough time has passed to make them usable again. I have taken them out of the attic and will use them on the Christmas tree in the family room this year. A new generation of little ones will be delighted to hear Spock say ”Live long and prosper!”

And we will....