Good luck. I’ve moved every few years of my adult life and go through a scaled-down version of this process every time. There’s something emotionally wrenching about having to throw out your little treasures, those almost talismanic objects with the power to bring back sharp details of memories that had faded into the haze. It’s at least a little comforting to be able to think of them having a second life, and I’m sorry you won’t get that.
If you have any particularly evocative items or collections like the band t-shirts, you might consider taking a few pictures before you throw them out. My dad kept all of his cell phones since the Zach Morris brick that got us rescued when our car got stuck in the mud in the mountains. The middle model was the same as my first cell phone, and the sight of it brought back an emotional tsunami of high school and early college memories for me. Before he got rid of them, he laid them out and took a picture with his new iPhone. Now that picture is stored in the cloud and accessible at a moment’s notice whenever he feels like reminiscing.
We made The Big Move from SCal to out in the middle of nowhere in NE AZ. Our AZ house was JUST a house, no garage, no carport, no nothin’. We ended up getting a storage unit. Actually, two.
Stuff got packed up and it left SCal at the end of 2005. Fastforward to today, 2020. A lot of crap is still in storage. I have the feeling most of it will go straight from storage to the dump.
Many years ago, after a few moves, and realizing how much stuff I had that I was just moving from place to place, I became less emotionally attached to things. I also developed a more minimalist shopping habit, I think long and hard about buying anything, and I do mean anything! (Do I really need it? Will I use it more than once? Do I have a place to put it?). Alas, along the way I got married, and my spouse hasn’t yet adopted the same philosophy (nor do I expect that they ever will).
Probably not the best time to tackle this, but … those dozens of Tshirts can be turned into a quilt. There’s some local seamstresses who can do this for you, guaranteed. Whether they’re taking projects right now is another matter, of course.
Google “memory quilt” or “tshirt quilt” to find someone who can do this with your shirts. Then you have a useful object, rather than boxes of stuff.
My in laws were for years participants in the whole Coca-Cola collectors thing. They amassed a museum-worth collection of stuffed bears, toys, and other crap. They went to one or two Coca-Cola collectors conventions annually, before health issues started preventing them from traveling much. Anyway, they had a large box of un-worn souvenir t-shirts that were about to get tossed in the trash, but my wife intercepted it and turned those t-shirts, many of them from cities scattered around the country, into an awesome-looking quilt, as suggested here. She has little experience as a quilter, but with online help it turned out great, and was given back to my in-laws as a Christmas present. Very nice.
As for what happens to the rest of the collection, we have warned them that after they croak, it is all going to the dump. This has inspired my MIL to start an inventory of items (which are precious to her) for us to use in selling off those things. We then told her we wont have time for that, so she is trying to sell off the collection now, before she croaks. If anyone here is into the Coca-Cola collecting thing, please drop me a PM!
None of this is any help for the OP - dragging along a box of t-shirts for some future use or project is a nonstarter, and it sounds like they don’t have time to find someone to do it. I like the idea of taking a picture of an important item, tho.
The building that is next to mine, and which forms the alley, is a church. They advertise via signs that their awnings are a safe place for homeless people to camp (e.g. it literally says “Sanctuary in the City”, although there are warnings against drugs/alcohol/loud noises). As a result, it’s very, very common to see tents/sleeping bags in the alley. In fact, just this morning I walked by a person laying face first right on the concrete. So dragging a recliner chair and a mattress out there doesn’t seem like dumping trash.
(Now, the dresser is another thing - I’m going to have to drag that thing to a nearby dumpster, I guess).
Moving is the best way to do spring cleaning. Moving internationally back and forth and having a divorce in the middle is an especially good way to get rid of old baggage (and household stuff, too).
Quilting fabrics, high-thread-count 100% cotton sheets, and tee shirts may be given to a local mask-making group. So can non-woven cloth tote bags. These are all washed, cut up and made into protective masks to donate to those who don’t have them (the tee shirts are for ties). You do have a local mask-making group and many are desperate for more fabric.
Good point. To the OP: if you want to be put in touch with a local mask-making group, I am not far from you and would be happy to hook you up with a friend who is part of a rather large and well-organized one. Just PM me.
You need to look at this optimistically. I’ve moved 3 times in 5 years, and I honestly find moving cleansing. Each time I cast off more stuff I really didn’t need. Books I haven’t read in years, furniture I don’t really need, clothes my current body shape can’t fit in, electronics I might repair “one of these days”, musical instruments I haven’t touched in years, laptops that have no hope of working, kitchen items I never use, furniture clamps I had when I repaired furniture, artwork I was tired of 20 years ago, on and on.
I’ve slowly cast all that stuff off, one way or another, and I feel so much lighter and well without them. Sometimes you don’t own stuff. Stuff owns you.
I’m in a bunch of Lakeview neighborhood groups on Facebook and people often post this sort of stuff. You might look for a Ravenswood group or even some of the Lakeview groups might let you join.
Oh my goodness, yes please. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff but there might be more, such as sheets. Towels too. Someone would have to pick them up. If they’re interested, and can come, if I know when I can bring them downstairs in the alley. They can let the bags sit somewhere for a week or so.
I’m getting rid of magazines now. I used to be a magazine fiend and I tell you what. I will never ever buy another magazine. They’re heavy!
Books will have to go next. I think it’s a sin to throw away books but we’ll keep our favorites. We have several shelves of books and have to cull down to one shelf. Most things I can read online but there’s nothing like the real thing. I used to get every new Stephen King book as a birthday present from my husband. I’d re-buy them in paperback so I could carry them with me. Nowadays I can read them all on my phone, but it’s not the same as seeing them on the shelf.
I know it’s all just stuff, and I have no problem with culling (well, let’s say I’ve come to terms with it), it’s just having to cull 30 years worth of stuff, books, CDs, LPs (those will all go in the trash except for a few we treasure), videos, magazines, laserdiscs on and on and on, to fit in a place half the size, and do it all in 3 weeks. I’m going crazy.
Thanks again for the response everyone. I know I’m being rude but please forgive me.
I’m sorry the OP is in a pickle with donation centers not taking stuff (Goodwill accepted a ton of our cast-off but still useful things during our move this past winter).
Just wanted to say that one can never have too many t-shirts, the more lurid and socially unacceptable, the better.
I think you may be overly concerned about the stuff being contagious in some way. But of course the main problem right now is that all the outlets are closed, and with everyone at home cleaning out closets, they’re overwhelmed with donations.
If you have any way to get the books to Openbooks on 19th in Pilsen, I think they’ll accept them. Not sure if there’s a way to get them to the Newberry Library Book Fair. Is there anyone who could tuck away the boxes of books until those organizations are again picking them up?
I will check with her, but please PM me your contact info rather than replying here. I am supposed to be minimizing screen time right now (and am frankly doing a terrible job of it), so I really shouldn’t be hanging out here even as much as I already do. If you PM me, I will get a notification.
Thanks for the suggestion but no, we don’t have any place where they can be stored, and we don’t have a car, or the time to lug several heavy boxes several times on the bus, from the north side (Albany Park). It just can’t be done, no matter how heartsick I am.
Although it is on temporary hold due to Covid 19 the company for people to use is MaxSold. They specialize in selling entire contents of homes whether it is for moving,downsizing or estate sales. They sell through online auctions with in-person pickups by buyers. Go to www.maxsold.com to get the details. It seems to be what many of you are looking for.
If anyone here is into the Coca-Cola collecting thing, please drop me a PM!