What you leave behind

What are you leaving behind? Is it a gift? Is it generous?

I can hear the previous homeowner’s thoughts, “We’ll just leave these here, stacked in the cellar. Maybe someone could use them one day.”

My response — ten years too late — is, “Please don’t.”

Disposing of thirty cans of leftover paint has given me time to think about this. A few full. Most not. Some covered with rust. Some holding dried cakes of latex. Many with liquidy goo.

None of them useful.

So back to the original question: Could someone actually use what I’m leaving behind? Is it generous? Or am I just being a little lazy?

* * *

Practically speaking: when selling a home, the thoughtful thing to do is to leave a list of paint manufacturers and colors, along with a note saying, “If you like any of these colors, here’s where you can get more.”

That’s a gift I’d take. I might not use it, but I’d appreciate the gesture.

(This is a tenth of the gift I received instead. Beautiful in its own way, actually.)