Not a shopping list

7 sticks of deodorant

3 never used cans of shaving cream

3 large and 2 travel size tubes of Pain Wizard cream (never heard of it)

4 bars of soap

8, yes I said 8, rolls of medical tape

4 boxes of bandaids

3 jars of rubbing alcohol (did you know it bears an expiration date?)

4 miniature jars of cologne

3 tubs of mentholated salve (all used)

3 jars of mentholated salve (new)

2 boxes of Q-tips

4 opened, no lids (those pesky safety caps), aspirin

hearing aids from my grandfather, 20 years old

1 bottle opened Listerine

1 bottle unopened Listerine

24 rolls of toilet paper

1, really just one?, tube of toothpaste (new)

3 boxes of dental floss

3 bottles of men's shower wash (all half used)

8, I kid you not, bags of cough drops

4 boxes of tylenol, only 1 current date

The above is a list of what I removed from my dad's bathroom. Anything that was past it's expiration, dating back to 2004, I threw away. Mostly my dad was unaware because I kept him in another room. He would have wanted to keep it, "It's still good."

The majority of what I showed him he had no idea he had so much. I predict he will not need to shop for any such personal items for at least two years.

It took me three trips to haul the stuff into his Assisted Living residence. As you can imagine he barely had room to keep it all.

He's been slightly aware of what he has accumulated over the years because he recently stood in front of his garage which houses antique cars and parts and dare I say it, junk? And he commented, "It's amazing how a person can accumulate so much stuff."

Yes, yes it is amazing. But here's the caveat, at certain points in our lives we must let go and clean out. My parents never did that. They had the space to keep, so they did. Never considering the ramifications of that storage. I think their philosophy was "Let the kids handle it."

The hard part now is that we are "handling it" while dad is still alive and there to pass judgment on why we don't want to keep one of his 'heirlooms' in our own home. It's a fine, fine line to try not to insult the parent, yet preserving your own rights.

But for now, I have the bathroom cabinets cleared.

And I won't be taking him shopping for deodorant any time too soon.