VIP: Very Important Papers

I am happy to report that project de-clutter is finished. I took advantage of my parents being on vacation. In all fairness, my mom has always wanted us (her 3 daughters) to help her purge things. Until now, I just couldn’t find the motivation. I figured it would be much easier to get rid of things without both parental units being present. What I didn’t know was that my elder sibling unit is just as much a pack rat as my parents. I had to fight tooth and nail for some items to be either tossed or given away.

There are many anecdotes to share from this experience, I decided on the discovery of the VIPs. My parents have been living in this house for 30 years. Being pack rats yields much stuff to sort through. Their garage was semi- organized into a his and hers section. Again, too much to write about. On Dad’s side there were piles upon piles of boxes. None of them labeled except for the one box on the bottom of an amassment of 9 boxes. It took me a good 2 hours to reach the VIP box. I had to go through most of the contents of the boxes for fear of throwing away an important family heirloom. (My elder sisters request) For the record, there were no precious artifacts to be found just lots of junk.

I finally reach the VIP box. Inside of it I found 3 legal sized expanding folders. The contents of the first folder revealed old applications for hospital privileges, items relating to medical licensing, etc. The second folder yielded copies of all his diplomas, DEA licenses, all very important papers. The third folder was much heavier and bound more tightly than the 2 previous. Once I got all the string untied and the rubber bands removed, I was expecting to find deeds to properties or something equally important. What did I find? Twelve mint conditioned Playboy magazines. I kid you not. My Father is saving the entire year of 1978 Playboys. There is not a nick or dog-eared page on any of them. I did not peruse any of them except to see which year they were from and whether or not they were subscribed or purchased.

It looks like he purchased them. My reaction to this discovery was way to go Dad! He is a wonderful husband to his wife of 51 years, a terrific Father - he raised 3 daughters, he is an accomplished Psychiatrist. Most of all he is a man. This did not bother me at all. Both my sisters reacted with “Ew!” I still don’t see anything wrong with this.

After a lengthy discussion, my sisters, 2 brothers-in-law and I decided that the VIPs would remain our little secret. I have placed them back into a sturdier container along with the other VIPs. They are now up on a shelf. My Father will know that the box was opened when he returns, I wonder if he will ask me what I found. My guess is no. I will keep you informed.

VIP = Very Important Playboy Magazines. Now I know. Anyone know what they might be worth?