Starting over

I find myself a little overwhelmed when I think about my parents moving back to the States. There are a lot of reasons for this, of course, but lately the one that is most pressing is just the thought of them having to get rid of EVERYTHING. It's hard to comprehend them starting completely, completely over. It's just another reminder of how temporary everything feels to me... How do you decide what from fifteen years to keep? Or rather, how do you let go of everything you can't take with you? That is really the issue.

My parents have a fairly extensive library of books and of movies. (We were known in the community for our movie collection, actually.) They won't be able to take much with them. Of course, they have things stored in the States (in several places, actually), but the bulk of the stuff you need in everyday life will have to be bought. Saying, "oh, they're moving back to the States" is so easy. But since I've been here I've been realizing what that actually means. I asked my mom about having to rebuild her kitchen wares (we were in the kitchen at the time). She is philosophical about it. But I feel tired when I think of them having to sell EVERYTHING.

So I guess, as a nomad myself, I'm considering again how to live where you are while keeping in mind the next step... I think about moving to Europe, and my immediate second thought is, oh gosh, what will I do with my BOOKS? Furniture, eh, I don't care about that so much. But my books... They tether me to earth. This is comforting as well as frustrating.