A lifetime of saving

My parents were children during the Great Depression, and my father's family lost nearly everything in a fire.

Very early in their lives, they were recyclers. Baby food and mayonnaise jars, soup cans and oatmeal boxes later became repositories for all sorts of stuff; clothes worn by elder siblings were handed down to younger ones, sometimes remade.

I have a quilt, soft from much use and many launderings, that is beginning to fray at its well-worn edges. My grandmother assembled it from fabric scraps left over from clothing she made for her family. Egg shells, coffee grounds and vegetable trimmings enriched the soil in her garden.

My parents knew what it was to be without, and I think the hard times they endured contributed to their becoming pack rats.

After Daddy's death a couple of years ago, I went to North Carolina to help my mother sort through some of the boxes in his study. He'd kept years' worth of magazines and stacks of books about World War II (he was a veteran) and the Civil War. There was a box filled with multipocket aprons -- the kind people use for taking money at yard sales and at fund-raising breakfasts and barbecues; he was active in a civic club, and we guessed most of those came from events where he had volunteered.

We went through 30 boxes or more; we put out some things for curbside recycling and took books and some tapes to the public library for its annual sale. Afterward, it was difficult to see that we had made any progress.

We had learned not to give him clothes; new stuff usually went unworn. Once, when I visited my parents, Daddy came to breakfast wearing a tattered terrycloth robe over pajamas that were nearly in shreds. He seemed to think there was life in those garments yet; it took every bit of nerve I had to take him aside later in the day to suggest that those rags might not have much visual appeal to his beloved of nearly 50 years. He got the message and dug out other night clothes.

I don't mean to make my parents sound long-suffering or eccentric; I share their pack-rat tendencies and periodically have to edit my own belongings. Those of you who are thinking about moving into smaller places would do well to do the same. The stories in today's magazines have suggestions that should help.

As some of you know, I have moved to a new position at the St. Petersburg Times, writing about social and charitable events in southern Pinellas County and doing general features reporting for Neighborhood Times, the twice-weekly news section that focuses on that area.

Please address mail to SENIORITY, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33704. Send e-mail (text only, no attachments, please) to features@sptimes. In the subject field, please write: ATTENTION: SENIORITY. The telephone number is (727) 893-8221; toll-free, 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8221.

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