Homework is Hard!
My homework this week was to go through 3 boxes of things labeled "memorabilia". She set a goal to cut it down to fit into a single under-the-bed bin. I don't think so, Tim. ;) But I'll give it a go...
Box 1 - postcards and brochures from trips. Southern California in 1999 - best trip EVER! Plane tickets and brochures from a trip to Dallas Texas in 1984 for a job interview. A ticket stub from visiting the White House in 6th grade (1973). A menu from an awesome restaurant/art museum in Baltimore from circa 1978. My first and so far only NASCAR race at the Brickyard. Tours of Civil War Battlefields - a very moving and sobering adventure. It's fun to see how many places I've been - considering my issues with travel, I managed to do a lot of it. (wonder where my stuff is from Mexico in 1979?)
Box 2 - yearbooks, college textbooks, diaries, my "Have you Hugged a Math Major Today" shirt I wore at college (and it worked!) ... some memories good, some diaries I don't want to reread just yet... I tossed some textbooks and such. Encouraged, I opened the last box.
Box 3 - weddings. Phew. I took my time and took a couple of breaks. I giggled over some of the crazy stuff (like put a plastic garter snake on the garter belt, or the box of eyeballs for the song "I Only Have Eyes For You") ... the guest book table decorated with family treasures, including pictures of the bride and groom's parents on their wedding days.. some really nice touches.
I didn't put anything in the underbed box just yet. I'm mulling over how much I want to keep forever. Here's a key question, though - how much past do I want cluttering the home where I'm starting to build a future? I don't want to forget where I've been, but I think I'd rather make room for all the good memories to come.
Box 1 - postcards and brochures from trips. Southern California in 1999 - best trip EVER! Plane tickets and brochures from a trip to Dallas Texas in 1984 for a job interview. A ticket stub from visiting the White House in 6th grade (1973). A menu from an awesome restaurant/art museum in Baltimore from circa 1978. My first and so far only NASCAR race at the Brickyard. Tours of Civil War Battlefields - a very moving and sobering adventure. It's fun to see how many places I've been - considering my issues with travel, I managed to do a lot of it. (wonder where my stuff is from Mexico in 1979?)
Box 2 - yearbooks, college textbooks, diaries, my "Have you Hugged a Math Major Today" shirt I wore at college (and it worked!) ... some memories good, some diaries I don't want to reread just yet... I tossed some textbooks and such. Encouraged, I opened the last box.
Box 3 - weddings. Phew. I took my time and took a couple of breaks. I giggled over some of the crazy stuff (like put a plastic garter snake on the garter belt, or the box of eyeballs for the song "I Only Have Eyes For You") ... the guest book table decorated with family treasures, including pictures of the bride and groom's parents on their wedding days.. some really nice touches.
I didn't put anything in the underbed box just yet. I'm mulling over how much I want to keep forever. Here's a key question, though - how much past do I want cluttering the home where I'm starting to build a future? I don't want to forget where I've been, but I think I'd rather make room for all the good memories to come.