Christine Walkley lives in Harwich, Mass., where she and her husband, Charles, and sons, Andrew (22) and Christopher (20), settled 11 years ago following a 28-year adventure exploring the country courtesy her husband’s career with the US Coast Guard.

A former art teacher, she advocates for the fine and performing arts as a member of Harwich High School Friends of the Arts, for which she is webmaster.  She volunteers at a local food bank and cooks and delivers monthly meals to the homeless shelter in Hyannis.

Over the years, she has participated in community events at EPOCH at Brewster Place and has incorporated visits and activities there for church youth group programs that she has directed.

As the big Six-O approaches, she is still hoping to answer the question:  “What do I want to be when I grow up?”

Though not related etymologically, “organizing” was very close to “agonizing” in my vocabulary until I attended “Get Organized” at EPOCH Assisted Living at Brewster Place.  Professional Organizer Beth Patkoske encouraged the attendees to start organizing right away by devoting just fifteen minutes to it. In addition to other tips, Beth recommended giving away things not used in several years, photographing articles of sentimental value rather than keeping the original and storing saved items in plastic tubs.

I had more drawers for junk in my kitchen than for silverware/gadgets.  When I reached for something in a cupboard, other items literally fell out.  Just as Beth inferred, I was waiting for that unscheduled day when I could tackle my whole kitchen.  Following her advice, I took advantage of fifteen minutes just before dinner and was able to rearrange one junk drawer and completely emptied another the next day within the same time frame.  Now onto the cupboards. Voila! Within a week my kitchen was organized and I was back in control and on a roll.

What to conquer next?  The black hole where everything seems to disappear – THE ATTIC.  We were scheduled to have insulation added for energy conservation and had to make sure there was easy access for the workers.   I made steady progress over several days.  To my dismay, I discovered that many things (Cub Scout craft supplies, teaching aids, various treasures) stored in cardboard boxes for ten years had yellowed and were no longer useful.  I learned the hard way that it is essential to sort through your stuff sooner rather than later.  Sort through it now while things are still valuable to someone else.

All in all, we made five trips in our pickup truck to the dump and local Treasure Chest where items can be donated for use by others.  It was very satisfying to make those trips and we drove away feeling “liberated.” I remarked to my husband that our sons were the real benefactors of our efforts.  In the future, they won’t be faced with the emotional tug of sorting our things with little or no knowledge of their meaning or value.

Just approaching sixty, we are not ready for a move to an assisted living community but Maureen’s earlier advice to my mother in law comes to mind.  She encouraged her to sort through her things now so she can move quickly if she needs to, thus avoiding operating in a crisis mode.  Time is marching on and the boxes aren’t getting any lighter so why not do all of this now and just once?

Weeks later, we still have some organizing to do.  But thanks to the good advice received at EPOCH, we are happy to report that we are accomplishing it sans agonizing.  Another one of Beth’s tips has helped eliminate daily stress in my life.  More on that next month!