(Yet) Another Milestone
*November 6, 2007
This weekend I drove to Tulsa and moved completely out of my mom's house, a place where I've been keeping my belongings since 1994.
There were A LOT of them. A. Lot.
I had planned on just pulling everything out of my old closet and putting it all directly into my car (wasn't much into the nostalgia thing this weekend), until I realized I had way more stuff than anyone could ever have imagined, and that about 90% of it was pure junk. Unfortunately, at least 75% of that 90% has high sentimental value to me. So I spent a few hours rifling through everything and got rid of about 25% in total (is that math correct?), which, if you ask me, is pretty incredible. And by "incredible," I mean, uh, really hard. Almost impossible. The worst thing about growing up so far.
This was my logic for throwing something away: 1. I couldn't remember immediately upon seeing the object in question what it was from or 2. I could remember what the object in question was from, but it was not a memory worth holding on to.
#2 was the killer.
Some things that didn't make it back to Dallas:
A bouquet of dried yellow roses somebody gave me once
My rubber stamp collection from age 10
Half a dozen mylar balloons
Jewel cases from every CD I've ever owned
An Oreo wrapper with 10-21-95 written on it, commemorating the death of my rat, Oreo
Some things that did make it back to Dallas but probably shouldn't've:
A couple of *NSYNC CDs
All of my old (pom) poms
My notebook from 7th grade English
The gum wrapper from the piece of gum I was chewing when I got my first kiss
A poster of Devon Sawa torn from Tiger Beat with a heart drawn around his face
I was a lot more likely to throw something from before 1996 away. Which makes me assume that, in another ten years or so, everything that made it back to Dallas will be in the trash as well.
Which breaks my heart for 34-year-old Spring.
Chad can come get his "stuff," aka keepsakes, anytime you guys desire. We cleaned the garage this past weekend and found his trophies, baseball cards (just 2 boxes, there are several others in the house) and volleyball medals. Two large plastic bins of memories from childhood live in my closet. I doubt Chad has as much sentimental value attached to his belongings as you do. Someday, however, a trip down memory lane shall be appreciated.
- Posted by Susan | November 6, 2007 4:37 PM
I had the same problem ever time I move. I have boxes of stuff I refuse to let go of and most of it seems like trash but each has a memory attached. Glad to know I'm not the only one, lol. ~ L
- Posted by Lauren | November 7, 2007 8:28 AM
Ah!!! Devon Sawa! I used to dream that I was a character in The Little Giants and I won Devon Sawa's heart.
I have been going through a bunch of old stuff too as I've been home in Minnesota before I move to California. I'm getting rid of a ton of stuff, but my room is crammed full of sentimental stuff, and I just don't know what to do with some if it. I'm not going to USE it, but I still want to keep it. I love it that you have a gum wrapper from the piece of gum you were chewing when you got your first kiss. I still have a hershey kiss wrapper from the guy I had my first major crush on. I glued it in my journal. Oh, the sentimentality.
- Posted by Ann | November 7, 2007 11:31 AM
My favorite item on the ENTIRE list:
"The gum wrapper from the piece of gum I was chewing when I got my first kiss"
Nice. lol But at least you probably had minty-fresh breath!
- Posted by my life is brilliant | November 21, 2007 5:10 PM