An old red sofa

By Chris Brown

O ur oldest daughter is having trouble letting go of an old red sofa．

It’s not the sofa she’s having trouble letting go of as much as the memories．It was their first sofa．It has been loaded and unloaded onto moving trucks seven times．Three kids have eaten on it， dripped on it，and jumped on it.Yet she’s having a hard time letting go and asked if I thought that was strange．“Completely，”I said，“You get it from me．”

When we were ready to get rid of our baby things， I sold our crib (嬰兒床)at the neighborhood garage sale．I had pieces of it in the garage and the other pieces of it still in the house．A young woman said she wanted to buy it．

My throat tightened and the tears began to well．She pulled out cash and I cheered up．But by the time I returned with the other pieces to the crib，I was all sobbing．“Have you considered that maybe you’re not ready to sell it?” the woman asked．“No-o-o-o，” I cried．“It’s fine，really，” I said．“Take it．”She said.

Our attachment to stuff grows in direct relationship to the amount of time it has sat in one place．The longer it sits， the harder it is to get rid of it．You think:Hey，we’ve hung onto it this long；it must be valuable!As though yellowing and a layer of dust increase value．

People who find it extremely hard to part with things have been made into entertainment in a television show called Hoarders．If an episode (集)of that isn’t depressing enough for you， producers now offer Extreme Hoarders．Both of which are not to be outdone by Storage Wars，a show about aggressive people who bid on other people’s storage units．

Let the sofa go， I told my daughter．It served its purpose．You can get a new one．Give the kids some crackers(餅干)and juice and it will be like the old one in six weeks．