A Thought: On Packing

A friend of mine commented the other day that one of the best parts of packing for a move is the purging of things which are no longer necessary.  After having moved as many times as I have, I have to agree.  It allows for the pulling out of memories, sometimes of things we've done, sometimes of people we've been.  We get to relive them, for a tiny fragment of our lives, to hold them again, remember, then either put back in place, if we can't yet bear to part with them, or let them go.  There's a joy, sometimes, in that brush with something that's come and gone and can never be again, or a catharsis, now and then both, that makes the whole exercise just a little more than the precursor to a shift in physical location.  It's a way of choosing the memories that will make up the foundation of a new home, hand-picking each, brick by brick, to form something more than what was left behind.