Look at those white "trash" Mintmans! HA! We rented a dumpster and got together for a major clean-up at Mom's house, getting ready to have it appraised and sold (the house, not the dumpster). Ironically, today is the six-month anniversary of Mom's death. Left to right: Chris #5, Marty #4, Lauren #3, Barb #2, me #1 (hey, we're in order and didn't even plan it that way!) Look closely at Barb's face. This is the only time you will see it on this post!
Aw, cool man! Marty found my Adam Ant album!!
"Look what I found!"
Barb strums on an old guitar while decked out in her biohazard garb. Marty sticks the donkey in front of the camera and yells, "Jackass!" (It's a Mintman thing--you wouldn't understand!) Note that Lauren (in the background) is the only one working at this point.
Boot to the head! Check out the junk room almost all cleaned out. Later on when we're finished I'll post "before" and "after" shots. Right now it's still looking kind of scary. Hard to believe at one time Marty and Chris shared a room in this spot!
Barb tries on Mom's wedding dress! It has been nicely preserved these past 45 years. However it smells a bit like pickles or something. Eww! Growing up, Mom always said I would inherit her wedding necklace, a family heirloom (and I did), and Barb was to get her wedding dress. We're thinking of selling this to a vintage clothing shop. It's still in good shape but none of us really care to keep it.
Another great find--the plastic nativity set! Gram gave this to us when we were all little. It has its own unique plasticky smell that reminds me of the holidays. At Christmas we would fight over how it was arranged under the tree. Finally we settled on getting our own day to arrange it each to our own liking. I guess we'll have to take turns having the nativity set each Christmas as no one wants to break the set up.
It's filling up fast!
Chris and brother-in-law, Brad, replaced two posts in the front. Brad also power-washed the house. It's starting to look better already!
This painting hung in our living room most of my childhood. Barb remembers being scared of it for some reason. I remember thinking about the scene a lot and asking Mom questions like who was in the boat and where were they going? The painting has been in the basement for years and not worth cleaning up so I opted for the digital memory of it (cobwebs and all).
We're into some serious cleaning now!
Action shot of Marty chucking some old pickles into the the dumpster! We were trying to break the glass on an old door. Finally Chris settled it all with the sledge hammer (below). Again, good ol' Mintman family sense of humor. I think we had more fun heaving-ho'ing the junk into the dumpster than anything else!
It's hard to believe we filled up that dumpster. It's coming along, but we still have a lot to do!
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4 comments:
Mary Jo...My heart goes out to you and your family as clean-up continues. It is so hard to go through a loved ones belongings and to see all those years worth of memories unfold. Where did the time go so quickly?
Love your site! Go Away Paris and the Nerds videos were great....Looks like your are on your way with your new blog spot.
Love the pix, MJ...what a day. I felt a sense of both emotional and physical exhaustion when it was all over, but with an impending sense of relief!
Oh hey, not sure if you knew this about the painting or not, but I remember either Mom or Dad saying that they chose it because it reminded Dad of Japan and it reminded Mom of Denmark. I always liked that idea that they agreed on it like that! The eye of the beholder, indeed!
Yes, it was a gloomy painting, but fascinating to a child's eyes.
YLB
#4
Hi Mary Jo, I only discovered your blog today! Sorry to hear about your mom passing away. We are in similar circumstances, my father-in-law passed away last Friday. He will be buried on Wednesday.
He was in a nursing home, so we will not have much to clear out. His wife died 2 years ago and that is when we had to clean out their home. Sad, but it also brings back a lot of memories, as your pics so clearly show. Hope you all will get through this stronger and with good memories of the past! Love, Caroline (aka Dutchbooky)
Wow, it must have been hard to do that after all it's only been 6 months, but it really looks like ya'll made the best of a tough situation. Perhaps there was even a bit fun mixed in with all the emotion of it?
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