So- I am packing and getting ready for the big move. I was cleaning out one of the storage closets and I found a box that contains nothing but memories from the past. Prom pics, old boyfriend stuff and all my trophies for sports and stuff. So the point is- while it is nice to look back upon this stuff every once in a while- what's the point in keeping it around? So I can look at it once every few years? I hate to throw away stuff that had meant so much to me- but really- do I have any use for it now? It takes up too much room.
What have you done with your old stuff?
Replies
35
little sugar
This is easy for me to answer, I love to look at stuff like that.......I say condense it and keep it 
SoWal Expert
Easy answer for me too. Since mothers are usually very sentimental, I say, give it to your mom, if she wants it, and let her figure out what to do with it.
SoWal Insider
I say keep it too. You may have children one day and they'll think it's pretty cool. My son thinks his dad's old HS baseball trophies are the best & has them lined up on some of his shelves. Plus our old prom pix with our dates.
Beach Fanatic
Keep them all! You will love looking back through them, trust me!
Beach Fanatic
keep it...... I trashed it, and sometimes wish I had something to refer to or look at. You never know......condense and keep.
SoWal Expert
Keep them all! You will love looking back through them, trust me!I see mine every time i visit my mom.
SoWal Expert
I had this conversation the other day, and I thought of an idea. Line up all your memorable stuff, take digital photos of each item, upload them onto an online storage (private) site, like photobucket.com (for back up), as well as on your own computer, and you will have images for easily accessible memories and photos to show children, etc. but without any of the clutter. 
picky
Weed it down.
and
Toss what doesn't make the cut out, preferably right as the garbage person is doing a pick-up, so you don't get cold feet. ;-) !
I'm all about the future. You don't need a lot of past dragging you down.
and
Toss what doesn't make the cut out, preferably right as the garbage person is doing a pick-up, so you don't get cold feet. ;-) !
I'm all about the future. You don't need a lot of past dragging you down.
Funnkalicious
I see mine every time i visit my mom.
Uh...Drex trashed ALL my swimming trophies. ALL 100 thousand of them. I broke records in the state of Alabama, and now I have no proof.
over it.
Trash the crap.
Beach Comber
I had this conversation the other day, and I thought of an idea. Line up all your memorable stuff, take digital photos of each item, upload them onto an online storage (private) site, like photobucket.com (for back up), as well as on your own computer, and you will have images for easily accessible memories and photos to show children, etc. but without any of the clutter.
Excellent idea!
hmmmm......can't remember
I'm with the condense/keep camp. I just did that a few weeks ago. A large storage box full of cards and letters turned into a handful of labelled manilla envelopes. Pictures are filed in boxes or albums. I use old trophies and the like around the house.
Why keep them? Because my family has found so much joy over the years in re-discovering piles of letters. There's a historical aspect: We have letters that were written to my grandmother, and it's fun to find that they were written to her by family members of people we know now.
It's always kind of a surreal experience to find those letters and cards. (I was so shocked a few weeks ago by what I found that I had to post a thread about it, if you remember...) You'll like going through that box when your 10-year reunion comes along, and when that old boyfriend gets married and you get a case of the mean reds over it, or when your BFF from high school has her first child.
A friend of mine figured out another funn use for old trophies. They are usually hollow with a screw in the bottom, and the top part--usually a figure of a person--screws off. Run wires down the middle, install a light socket, add a shade, and screw the sports dude back on top. Great in offices or little boys' rooms.
Wow, Audie, that was long...
Why keep them? Because my family has found so much joy over the years in re-discovering piles of letters. There's a historical aspect: We have letters that were written to my grandmother, and it's fun to find that they were written to her by family members of people we know now.
It's always kind of a surreal experience to find those letters and cards. (I was so shocked a few weeks ago by what I found that I had to post a thread about it, if you remember...) You'll like going through that box when your 10-year reunion comes along, and when that old boyfriend gets married and you get a case of the mean reds over it, or when your BFF from high school has her first child.
A friend of mine figured out another funn use for old trophies. They are usually hollow with a screw in the bottom, and the top part--usually a figure of a person--screws off. Run wires down the middle, install a light socket, add a shade, and screw the sports dude back on top. Great in offices or little boys' rooms.
Wow, Audie, that was long...
fartblossom
i'm a pack rat i say keep it - who knows when you might want it again....
SoWal Expert
Like I said, scan and save images of them all, then give the originals to a family member and let them do the worrying. Once scanned and saved, you can email a copy to everyone in your family.
Beach Fanatic
This is a tough one for me too. I have thrown things out that I truly regret now, especially old letters and photos.
SoWal Expert
Keep photos, trophies that have meaning (not so much the ones for just showing up), any toys or books you might pass on to the next generation, and any letters etc that you might want to reread or look back on.
I usually find when "cleaning" or "purging" that 1/4 to a 1/3 is junk I can easily get rid of and somehow ended up being saved by accident.
I usually find when "cleaning" or "purging" that 1/4 to a 1/3 is junk I can easily get rid of and somehow ended up being saved by accident.
Beach Fanatic
Going through the same thing right now - finding stuff I haven't looked at in 20 years. I am enjoying looking at it now - but figure if I don't look at it again for 20 years I will be too old to remember who those people are anyway or why I saved it. I have trashed probably 2/3 of my stuff. It actually feels real good to downsize.
SoWal Expert
Going through the same thing right now - finding stuff I haven't looked at in 20 years. I am enjoying looking at it now - but figure if I don't look at it again for 20 years I will be too old to remember who those people are anyway or why I saved it. I have trashed probably 2/3 of my stuff. It actually feels real good to downsize.
Beach Fanatic
Easy answer for me too. Since mothers are usually very sentimental, I say, give it to your mom, if she wants it, and let her figure out what to do with it.NOT!!! I'm going through and trying to get stuff back to them now.
SoWal Insider
NOT!!! I'm going through and trying to get stuff back to them now.
I hear ya. I can't get my daughter to take her stuff. The girls house is just as big as mine, she can store her stuff there.
Beach Fanatic
Put what you can in a scrapbook and throw the rest away.
Beach Fanatic
or put it in a extra special box.
superJfunn
Uh...Drex trashed ALL my swimming trophies. ALL 100 thousand of them. I broke records in the state of Alabama, and now I have no proof.
over it.
Trash the crap.
I love it when you talk about your swimming trophies
SoWal Expert
Don't throw away good stuff like that! I never knew my mother was an olympic hopeful until we were looking for something in our storage area and found an old display of her medals and ribbons!
SoWal Expert
Don't throw away good stuff like that! I never knew my mother was an olympic hopeful until we were looking for something in our storage area and found an old display of her medals and ribbons!Maybe your mom should communicate better with you about her life. I think too many grandparents and parents (mine included) never share stories about their lives. Those stories would be much more memorable than some trophies shoved into the back of a closet.
Edited
SoWal Expert
She does/did a great job communicating with me - I just didn't know how FAR she had gone in her sport until I saw the medals. That's why I suggested keeping things like that - conversation starters!
I'm currently trying to get my grandmother to write her life story down - amazing some of the life experiences she's had!
I'm currently trying to get my grandmother to write her life story down - amazing some of the life experiences she's had!
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