THE OLYMPICS

I found the above patch, "I Saw the Flame" while continued sorting thru my earthly possessions in my quest to be clutter-free. My husband saw the torch relay when it went thru St. Louis on January 8, 2002 for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am glad I found the patch. It is appropriate to post photo of the patch as we are coming to the end of the 2008 Olympics in Bejing.
We watched part of the Opening Ceremony, some competitions such as swimming, track and field and CP specially enjoyed gymnastics. During my school years in Viet Nam, I was active in sports, table tennis (ping pong), running and basketball. One year I was chosen to compete in a 4x400 relay. I must not be a good runner as I was third in line. I don't remember if we won the race. I do remember I came in last when participated in a 100-meter dash.
Here is my report this week - everyday I reached my goal to dispose at least three large paper bags of correspondence. Yesterday I took a large box of stuff to Goodwill store and a pair of brand new boots that CP never wore. I already set aside two plastic bags of books and I plan to add one or two more bags to take to the library next weekend.
I emptied three full banker boxes of original and copies of articles I wrote while working as freelance reporter for the Grand Rapids Press-Lakeshore Edition in 1992-93. The job was in addition to the full time job I had with a manufacturer in Holland, Michigan. I also reported stories about Asian American community for the Holland Sentinel as a guest columnist. After I moved to St. Louis, I wrote a few pieces for the St. Louis Business Journal and the Suburban Journal to promote my translation business in 1995-98.
Almost 10 years later, I finally disposed copies of pages from books I had to read and included as reference in essays I wrote during my graduate school in 1998-99 at Saint Louis University. All the hours I stood at the copy machine in the library, all the hours I spent reading, highlighting sentences, all the hours I spent writing, re-writing and preparing intellengent responses just in case the professors asked for more in-depth analysis. For now, the essays I wrote while at SLU will be kept with those from my early years learning English as a Second Language at LaGuardia Community College (1981-1983). I only kept the A+ papers I wrote in Philosophy and Psychology classes at Hunter College (1984-1988).
At time it was overwhelming going thru all the stuff. Then I began to enjoy the process. It was as if I took the journey back to places in my early life and re-visited with the past of who I once was. I was the young person who had the energy to work full time then attended college in the evening, getting A's and B's while carrying 9 or even 12 credits during each semester. Now I am a middle-age woman going to work, coming home tired and often wonder what the purpose of living should be or about a higher calling to serve others.
Next week I will attempt to respond to the call from Dave Bruno to whittle down to 100 clothing items. You could read more about Bruno on his blog, guynameddave.com.