Expiration Date

Ask my kids and they’ll smile and shake their heads—Mom keeps things long past their expiration date. In my defense, I’ve gotten better with the stuff in the refrigerator.

But as I was stuck by myself recovering from Covid, I approached my infamous medicine chest of doom. I was kind of embarrassed to look at the expiration dates. 

 

It began when I thought some NyQuil might help my symptoms. Exp. 2012 clearly stamped on the box.

 

The winner in the oldest medicine in my arsenal, was nasal spray that expired in 1997. 

 

I guess my tendency to cling on to medicines dates to Y2K when I thought civilization would come to a standstill and I might need those ten-year-old Advil’s.

 

As I threw away the old, expired stuff, I thought about some of the other things I’ve held onto—not in my cupboards, but in my head.

 

They say every problem we face has an expiration date—I can buy into that.

 

But what about the conflicts that never resolved? Or the sense of failure from something that just never worked out? Can those have expiration dates in my head? Can I let them go out with the trash?

 

Yes, it’s much like my old medicine. It takes an effort to pull it out, examine it, and then decide it’s finally time to let it go. 


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