Well, Ema did. She promised one area would be cleared each day and sure enough! I got to specify which old clippers go, although some of them are surely Ori’s. I’m not the only one with a beard here. There were a lot of combs I never really use. We consulted on which lotions and salves I use and which should just be chucked. Those cans of deodorant spray were never mine. (Sorry Matt, Ori Aharon, they’re gone. I use a crystal.) Sorry Pop-Pop for tossing the mustache trim kit you gave me. Ema said, “Well we shared that moment, let’s move on.” (I really thought I’d pulled some heart strings there for a moment.) Really, I only kept the little scissors and mustache comb because Pop-Pop gave it to me. Some soaps and lotions got to stay, but I know it’s only temporary. They’ll have to go by next summer.
I have to imaging that, in the apartment, we just won’t buy in bulk, even soap. The supermarket on the corner will be our storage cabinet. Will that be possible? To move from a suburban house with a garage and closets to a city apartment, with what? A Machsan in the basement? It’ll be a big change, but over time, if I think about it enough, I think I’ll be ready. I’ll have to be. Once I put up a little note on the side of my desk. “If you can’t find it, it’s useless.” That was to get me to file things in an organized way. I never was able to do that. I was always sharp enough to know which pile and where abouts in the pile, lay that document I searched for. I always thought a higher power guided me. Had to be. My memory can’t be that good.
So my next sign, whether I use it or not will be: “If I can’t imagine it in the apartment, it’s not worth keeping.” The only other question that remains is how to dispose of it. We’re giving away lots of stuff. It’s today’s modus operandi, is that the word?
Making Aliyah 