The usual thing to do at my work when someone leaves it to take the stuff you want and throw out the rest. But he didn't exactly retire or move. He stopped coming in because he ended up in the ER.


I shared an office with this person for 10 years. We were sort of friends. In the end he was leaning on me alot more than I wanted him to so I was setting boundarie by telling him to call his tdoc/ pdoc. I told him that I was not the one to help him.

Then he took short term disabiility from work.
He came back and lasted about 2 months.
I couldn't toss all of his stuff out in the garbage in one full swoop out of respect. Also, I wanted to have a certain amount of class/ sense of decorum in front of my other colleagues.


Here is what I tossed out in the hallway/trash since december 07

-all teaching materials (contents of 2.5 filing cabinets, bookcase, desk . . .)
-lots of books
-about 10 years worth of unused teaching supplies (enough through 2018 - - some of these I put back in the supply cabinet, but some I admit to tossing in the hallway
-all bureaucratic and administrative junk
-framed pictures and prints,
-photos
-a mirror
-a lamp
-very large clear glass vase
-pillows for his back
-coffee maker
-supplies and materials for tea
-massive amounts of cleaning supplies
-clock radio
-faded posters
-tchotchkes
-huge macrame wall hanging
-a crappy half piece of a desk that barely sat on a half book case
-an ugly file cabinet
-lots of plastic and metal desk and file organizers


Things I took to UPS for them to pack and mail last week:

-books of US poetry and some Italian language learning books that were unrelated to his teaching and seemed personal
-lots of odds and ends from the desk like pocket= sized old phone books
-a stuffed animal an administrator gave him at a big meeting when he (the roommate) returned from 1.5 years of disability
-a sweater
-a coffee mug that seemed to have a personal meaning
-a framed (w/glass) painting of a show poster a friend had painted when he played the lead in a show many years ago)

In truth, none of this was important. I put in a box and shipped because I didn't want him to ask about the other stuff.


Things I kept in the office mostly because they are too heavy to pay to mail to him:
-2 huge dictionaries (on their sides, each dictionary has about 12 inches of pages (I can use a good fat dictionary anyway, but one is enough)
-plaques and awards
-5 inch binder of materials he had put together for promotion a few years ago.
-one folder of stuff that I can use for a committee I am on
-a rented graduation gown that had not been returned and that someone else can use
-a stapler and about five other smaller things that I put in a drawer because I was getting tired
- 2 small and outdated altases that didn't fit in the box -- I can use these perhaps
-one box of materials related to teaching that another teacher had specifically asked me about


Neither he nor the boyfriend asked for any of this stuff -- except that the painting was mentioned last Christmas. He sustained brain damage and might not remember much.


I re-injured my back yesterday when the cleaning lady helped me sort through some of my boxes. I could barely move by the end of the day. But sleeping last night seemed to help.
I've got emotional stuff happening.
I'm not sure what to do.
Maybe I should go to the gym and sauna and work up a sweat.

Mari

I have crystals and plants all over the office.
And I burn sage when I stay late.

We are about to lose power here with the thunder and lightening. I have to get off computer.