CityView Magazine

6 March 2023 Mary Zahran, who hopes she never forgets how to scrub a kitchen floor, may be reached at maryzahran@ gmail.com. SOMEDAY YOU'LL THANK ME Spring cleaning the stuff you can live without BY MARY ZAHRAN W hen I was a little girl, my mother would do her spring cleaning in March or April, depending on the weather and her schedule. is process consisted of her scrubbing all the woodwork in the house, along with all the walls, the windows, and every square inch of flooring. As you can imagine, cleaning on this scale required not only a lot of my mother's time but also a great deal of her energy. is seasonal ritual also took place in the homes of all our neighbors and friends. Apparently, the only way to get rid of the gloom of winter and welcome the beauty of spring was to sweep and scour every inch of your house. I remember being amazed watching my mother perform these tasks but also terrified at the prospect of having to do this myself in my own home one day. Fast forward two decades, and I was the woman stocking up on cleaning supplies as March approached. While I made a sincere attempt to recreate the spring cleanings I had witnessed in my youth, I was never as thorough or dedicated to my work as my mother had been. Aer years of doing what my mother had always done, I began to rethink my handling of this seasonal ritual. I decided not to scrub every inch of my house because I did enough of that during the rest of the year. Why should I devote an entire week in March or April to mopping the floors when I could focus on a completely different kind of cleaning? e spring-cleaning project I had in mind did not include the walls, the floors, or the windows — it was the contents of my house that needed attention. Like almost everyone else I know, I have managed to acquire an embarrassing amount of stuff in my adult life, and the more storage space I have, the more stuff there is. We have been in our house for 30 years now and thus have not had the obligatory purging that usually comes with moving. As a result, despite my best efforts to get rid of outdated or unnecessary items, I still have many more things than any person should own. Why, for instance, do I have dozens of CDs and DVDs on my bookshelves? Bookshelves are for books, and I can never acquire too many of them. With all the streaming services available, why do I need physical copies of movies or soundtracks? While I do have a CD player in my house and another in my car (Carol, the Corolla). How long do I think I will live that I can leisurely listen to one CD each day for the rest of my life? Am I going to outlive that French woman who died when she was 122? What good will bottles of expired cough medicine or sunscreen do for me? Do I really need three soup ladles when I never make more than one pot of soup at any given time? How many bottles of wine do I plan to open (and not finish drinking) that would require me to own nine wine stoppers? Why on earth am I clinging to a pair of Size 6 jeans that I haven't worn in decades? Do I honestly think I will be able to wear them again one day? Aer living in black yoga pants for several years, would I even remember how to put on a pair of pants that has a zipper? Perhaps the best thing about this kind of spring cleaning is discovering what must never be discarded. In that category, I place all the cards and notes my children have given me since the day they were old enough to hold a crayon; every card and letter from my husband; recipes from my mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law; pictures, ticket stubs, and programs from memorable trips and outings; and my favorite books, especially those with notes in the margins. With the additional exception of several photographs, everything else is expendable. While I have many vivid memories of my mother's version of spring cleaning, I have created a different kind that I find satisfying in its own way. It isn't nearly as exhausting, and it is a constant reminder of what really needs my attention. Simplify, simplify. — Henry David oreau LEARN MORE AT JETHL.COM WHERE DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT ©Jet HomeLoans, LLCSM NMLS ID# 1660135. Jet HomeLoans, LLC, a partnership with FBC Mortgage, LLC NMLS ID# 152859 and Dream Finders Homes. This is not a commitment to lend. Paid Advertisement. 833-270-7191 242 Hay Street Fayetteville, NC 28301

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