Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for April 06, 2018

Can’t wait to see A&J’s faces one day when they turn on “Antiques Roadshow” and see someone find out that the china is worth $12,000…

“And the provenance with this letter! That adds another 50% to the value – congratulations!”

This is just sad.

I have some very nice heirlooms but neither of my children are interested in having them. These things will go who knows where after I’m gone. Yeah, kind of sad. Of course when I am gone, I won’t care either.

Wish I had my grandmother’s china. But one of my sister’s got it, and she’s happy, so that’s good.

I saw it every day of my childhood-preserved in a glass cabinet & only saw use on a few holidays. Now I use it everyday, wash it in the dishwasher, etc. Used it more the first year I had it than it had been used in the 60 years before. What were we saving it for?

The Smithsonian Institute has Warehouses full of this and other stuff; it will be shown some day to some one who cares!

Nooooooooo Janis. Don’t do it. The child who wants it is yet to come.

Doesn’t Gene have a step-daughter? That’s who might want it. I know I would’ve!

She’s putting it out with the trash? The letter is for…

Things as heirlooms are good. More important still is knowledge that passed down. My wife got a great deal of knowledge from her two Native American grandmothers (all kinds of stuff, tribal, medicinal) but there’s nobody now for her to pass it onto. It’ll all be lost when she goes.

Sad.

You could have just left them in the attic for a grandkid!

All I took when my folks passed were the boxes and boxes of unsorted family photos from the 30s, 40s, 50s and early 60s; They passed almost 40 years ago and I am still sorting photos by age, trying to identify their relatives and friends and eventually digitizing all of them onto a separate hard drive.

Chattanooga!!!

The eternal conflict of purging or hoarding.

The weight of the world has descended upon Janis in panel 4. Time for Arlo to do his thang and get her out of the doldrums.

JJ: Just to let you know I have lost access to your blog and will probably not get it back. I will miss it.

My grandmother was born in 1906, and I am 68 years old. I did not realize that A & J are supposed to be so old.

my Mom was born in 1915. her oldest grandchild is 63 but the youngest is 35

Most area have some version of freecycle. “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”

Getting ready for the big move are we???

I was given a ring that belonged to my grandfather. I was in my 20s when I got it, and thought it was pretty cool. Now that I’m in my 50s, with no sons to pass it on to, it’s become a burden. The other grandsons on that side of the family are even older than I am (I’m the youngest), and the great-grandsons would probably just sell it. Even if they would appreciate it, they were all born long after my grandfather died and have no idea who he was.

The moment those boxes disappear you will regret your actions. And continue to regret them for the rest of your life.

For those of you who have family who wants the old china you have, I’m happy for you. Just over a year ago my mother moved to a nursing home. Tried to find a new home for her china and crystal. My sisters didn’t want it. My wife and I already have our own set, from when we were married and added to over the next few anniversaries. None of the grandkids want it. To much work. As I said, we have our own set, and seldom use it. The kids don’t want to use it, and we already know they don’t want it, because it’s to much work. It’s trimmed in platinum. Not supposed to put it in the dishwasher. You have to actually wash the stuff by hand. The horror! There are places online where you can buy replacement pieces, and sell what you have. So evidently there are still some people who want it. Otherwise, it’s about as useful as a dodo.

Kicked to the curb unloved and unwanted. :(

So if “no one wants it”, then why is old china so expensive in antique shops and on-line? Admittedly, all I would pay attention to is the 1930’s (+/-) stuff and not the 1960’s junk, but still…

What is Janis’ hurry to get rid of the china? Are they really about to move? Also, it seems to me that the “getting rid of stuff” like this is typically done by old people as they approach the end of life, not by us still vigorous, active, cool, and with-it Boomers! By the way, the grandchildren or whoever down the line may not be interested in that sort of thing when they’re in their 20’s, but by the time they’re in their 40’s or 50’s or later they would have loved to have had it! Don’t judge what someone (or a future generation) wants in the future based on what some “kid” says today! This certainly applies in my case.

Let the dishes go, but keep the stories. Gene and his descendants will one day want to know the story of great grandma from Chattanooga. The dishes are just “things” to keep or not, but the stories are priceless.

I am hoping that the author show Janis has left the china on the curb for pick up by a Charity, like the Salvation Army. It infuriates me when people throw away stuff that is usable by someone less fortunate.

I don’t understand why she’s in such a hurry. She has a grandchild who might want it someday.

I’m just waiting for her son to decide he wants the china in a few weeks or so from now.

I’ve put things on the curb after posting them on freecycle.org. The rules are that you can’t tell everyone where it is and first come first served, but rather you notify a single recipient (whomever you choose of the respondents) that it’s theirs. You put it on the curb or by the door or whatever, with their name on it. The downside is that if they don’t come, you have to email them that you’re re-posting it and then go through that again.

Let’s see— if Janis’ mother was born in about 1933 then, and Janis in turn was born in about 1963, then she and Arlo are probably roughly 57 or 58 now (in 2021).