Finishing things.

There are a couple of paper towels left on the roll. You (a) put on a new roll and throw away the old one, with the paper towels still on it; (b) take off the paper towels and set them aside so you can use them next time you need a paper towel, and then you put on a new roll; or (c) you mean you can actually change the roll of paper towels?

My sister's husband is (c). My hubbie is (a). I am (b). We won't get into my brother-in-law's laziness since that is a topic that depresses me. What I find curious is that I can't bear to waste anything, and my husband can't bear to be thrifty about things like paper towels and toilet tissue. I am the one who bought us the little devices that squeeze the toothpaste until every last blob of it has gotten out of the tube and on to the brush. Hubbie's is in his bathroom drawer, that is, if he hasn't thrown it away. If the mayo is near the bottom, I get the rubber spatula and scrape every last molecule out before the jar is recycled. Not my spouse. There could easily be half a dozen sandwiches' worth left in the jar when he tosses it. He has thrown away many dozens of sheets of perfectly good paper towels and toilet tissue. I often ask him in real wonder how he's managed to hang on to me for so long without kicking me to the curb.

But I do confess that I have issues. You know it's issues when you save boxes. All boxes. Even empty Kleenex boxes. Occasionally I have to look the other way while my spouse flattens them with his gigantic feet and throws them away. I have a pencil that was given to my nearly 32-year-old son when he was in second grade. It's maybe two inches long, with no eraser. I have pens that haven't had ink in them for years. I have saved broken rubber bands. I have duplicates of books that I never wanted one of. I reuse post-it notes until they no longer are sticky, and then I use them just as regular bookmarks. Rusty paperclips? Yep. Jars of bizarre jellies given to me as gifts--can't throw them away. Earrings without posts. Watches that don't run even with new batteries. Clothes I haven't worn in decades. I even have a dress my mother made me when I was a senior in high school. (That's sentimental, though.)

Oddly, my husband's parents were savers, probably because of living through the Depression. My mother-in-law used to (and may still) wash aluminum foil to reuse it. She rinses out bread wrappers and reuses them. She buys clothing only if it's on sale. I question the sanitation of the foil and bread wrappers, but the sale-only clothing isn't a bad idea. I guess my saving urge comes from doing without during childhood, but it stymies me as to why my spouse isn't more like his parents. I was reading in one of the advice columns about a man who took flowers from a funeral and gave them to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day. My husband would never do such a thing. First of all, why buy flowers? They're just going to die and be thrown out. I've finally cured him of throwing away the cards people have given him. (I suspect he may toss them on the sly when I'm not looking.)

In the last couple of days, I've picked up this afghan that I had been crocheting and hadn't finished and I'm trying to finish it. It's gotten so large and unwieldy that it's hard to work on, but I don't want to leave it unfinished. When I have a tiny bit of yarn left over from some project, I find a way to use it for something. Now, with spring on its way (dragging its feet through the snow), I'll cut up some of it in bits and put it out for the birds to use in their nests.

I'm not a pack rat. I'm a saver, a finisher. Think that argument will work when my kids have to sort through all my junk after I'm gone? (Older son is a saver, a pack rat. Younger son is like his dad. Toss it!) Don't know why this topic has been on my mind. Guess I just couldn't bear to toss it out. Dr. S.