Jim is mean and is making me clean out some of my “stuff”. “Stuff” includes the boxes of pictures from HS forward, old report cards, mementos from retreats I went on, etc. I, of course, feel no need to part with these things in general but apparently we need more space (uh, don’t we live in a 3700 sq. foot house?!) so I started rummaging through the boxes he brought up.
After some thoughtful consideration I agreed to get rid of all items related to teaching high school English (what my degree is in that I never actually did beyond student teaching). Jim’s right, I think/hope, if I ever do this it’ll be years from now and the things I created when I was 21 probably won’t be as good as the new stuff I’d come up with.
I also, *gasp*, threw away several dozen pictures. Some were duplicates, some were just bad shots, some were of things best for Nicole not to find one day. I did find an entire envelope of triplicates of Sarah W’s wedding that I'm going to give her doubles of.
I pitched some short stories I wrote but kept a notebook filled with poetry and essays. Some of it was actually pretty good.
I also decided to keep, for better or worse, three letters from people I once dated. One was an ex-boyfriend that made me roll my eyes (at myself- did I really buy into his CRAP?) after reading his card, another was an ex-boyfriend that just had very sweet things to say that made me smile, and another was from a guy I went out with that really “time stamped” the period of my life (he was talking about things like “if you’re hesitant about dating me because of what the Dayton crowd might say…” – good lord, I hope I was smart enough at the time to write back that I could care less what others say) and it made me laugh at my youth. (can my UD girls guess who these guys are??)
I'm only 2 boxes in and have three to go. Who knows what other treasures will turn up. I'm certain I’ll find autographed HS playbills and the like buried in there somewhere……
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4 comments:
1) I bet I can guess 2 of the guys?? Maybe even all 3 (but I might get the order wrong for which is which). Maybe???
2) Old pictures!! I was just talking with Katie B. Do you happen to have any photos of her? Perhaps with me in them, too....
3) I did some of that when I moved out here. When it gets to be too much stuff, I started not looking and just tossing (if I didn't SEE it, then I wouldn't KNOW that I threw it away). There has probably been once or twice that I recalled something and been disappointed that I can't find it and therefore likely tossed it. But all of that stuff that I do still have? Is at my parents. And they're not amused. But it's so difficult to send it my way b/c, well, it'd have to fit with me on a plane! (all my siblings live within a day or two driving distance, so if THEY didn't take it back with them, my parents could when they go there.) And so it stay sin their storage and not mine. bwuahahahaha.
I still sometimes find the pics we drew of us marrying twins in HS. If you find any of those, they are classics and need to be scanned into the computer...
Are you for real...?
Put some shelves on your basement walls....You should have plenty of space right.........?
I think you will wish you had kept some of the stuff you threw out. There is a neat way to keep and orginaze old stuff I think. You just have to orginaze it. I am so glad that I threw nothing out. It is really nice to look back and see where you came from and then see where you ended up. I guess old people do that more than younger ones. I guess I am becoming an "OLD" people. I keep letters, cards, newspapers, photographs, and old ties, just because they always come back in style. I even enjoy old tape recordings I have from 35 years ago as a young teen right before and right after my voice had changed from 13 to 15. It really sounds silly I know, but the kids really eat it up. I even have live recordings of my High School Marching Band that I played in at our Homecoming in 1972. I love the nostalgia and the memories, good and bad.
You would not believe how wonderful it was to have seen the faces of fellow band members listening to themselves playing in the marching band again at our 30th High School Reunion. Some actually cried. I was very proud to share it with all when I was the DJ for our dinner party.
Maybe Jim ought to "dust off" his trophys? Can't have your cake and eat it too... JK
Martha makes a good point. I have my "first pair of jeans". Yes, they would totally fit Nicole, but why I have them?!? Greg and I laughed over this for a bit when unpacking Christmas items. But, why do I need them? I don't even remember them. If I get time maybe I should do the same thing. I'll feel like a real idiot when I realize that I may have moved 200lbs of crap cross-state to throw them away. EEP!
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