This Is The Day We Get Organized

Twenty years ago when our two oldest boys were in their upper teens, we added two bays to the garage to house their stuff and keep peace between them and their dad. We have always referred to that half of the garage as "the boys' side."

Years passed. Steve died in an accident (January 2, 1994) at the age of 18. More years passed. Three of the boys are married. Only the youngest is still at home at the ripe old age of 25, but in a sense none of them has really left. I've heard it said that your children have not really left home until all of their stuff is gone. I have a feeling our boys will never leave until we do. Each of the married ones still has one car stored in "the boys' side" of the garage and piles of parts.

Leroy has been saying for years he would like to put shelves on the boys' side of the garage to get their parts off the floor and make more room but it was not a job for the fainthearted. With his own side of the garage bulging, he began to covet the boys' space.

In December Leroy brought home the materials he needed to make shelves. He could see the project stretching out for ages because everything would have to be moved before he could even begin to build the shelves. Then home-raised angels in jeans arrived. Gene had a week of vacation over Christmas and took charge of the project. Between Leroy and the boys, they cleared the space and started building shelves. On January 2, they finished the organizing. Most of the things that were on the floor are now residing on shelves, sorted according to their four owners.

Quote from Gene: "You can see the FLOOR!"

The three boys' cars are now back in with room to spare. Dale's Chevelle (which Leroy bought new in 1966) is on the far right. Daryl's Chevelle is freshly washed and covered in the background, and Gene's Monte Carlo (which was Steve's) is under cover in the foreground. And there is room for Leroy to store a few of his things in between---which was his object to begin with. He can hardly believe all this happened in less than two weeks. (Now if only he would clear all the junk from his own side of the garage!)