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What do you save for sentimental reasons?

My home is organized and neat. A sanctuary, I love being surrounded by books, music and art. But I have pockets of sloth: upper desk drawer and the bin between front seats of my car.

Recently got excited about "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo." Drew the line with precious items in the top desk drawer.

"You could at least send me a note," I complained to Ken after moving from Michigan to Washington at age 21. We were in high school marching band together, and became good friends at the University of Michigan. Ken didn't answer my letters.

Ken worked at a firm that made prosthetics. He ran to the workshop, made this metal musical note and promptly mailed it back. A lifelong smart-aleck like me. Love it!

One of daughter Claire's adorable turtle diaper pins. Awww...

Mica I found in New Mexico. From Upper Michigan: copper, a fossil Petoskey stone (Michigan State stone), and two "lucky" polished stones I chose in a rock shop at age 10.

On my kitchen windowsill is an egg-sized, quartz crystal Ken gave me for my 21st birthday. We were backpacking in beautiful Enchanted Valley, Washington. Ken found it in the river.

Waterfalls cascaded from high cliffs surrounding the valley. Quartz crystals formed on the cliffs above, tumbling down waterfalls into the river. A wonderful memory.

A sentimental sap.

And I treasure baby books (Claire's and mine) and Claire's loving letters.

What did you save?

LiterateHiker 9 May 20
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28 comments

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4

$100 bills

3

My first marriage license,lost my wife of 27 years Sept 2017, to cancer, so many memories looking at it when we tied the knot.

3

Too much stuff. My father scratched his name into a chimney brick when he was a small boy. I saved that brick and incorporated it into my house.

3

Dog tags few decorations I still have

bobwjr Level 10 May 20, 2019

Always memorable. I still know my army number, 60 years after being given it!

3

Two of them are a pair of old jeans and a striped T shirt, both with holes in them. The holes match up, and also match up with 2 scars on my body, caused by a policeman's bullet.

@Petter

Chilling. Glad you were not killed!

@LiterateHiker Believe me, you're not half as glad as I am that I managed to disarm him.

@LiterateHiker I've also still got the longbow I used to fight off a gang of house robbers, 50 years ago.

@Petter

Wow! You amaze me. Were you a policeman?

@LiterateHiker No. Just an ordinary bloke who grew up in Africa. Here is just the start of my life, uploaded to my own website.
[mojacar.ws]
When you get bored with life, try reading a bit of it.

Wow - you win the story of the day right here! Again - wow....!

@Petter Story time! What happened?

@UpsideDownAgain Far too long to relate here. I am writing an autobiography, but very slowly. I've had many narrow escapes.
There's a reference to one incident in my bio.

2

I wear a little whistle from a charm bracelet my mother had (That is how she would call us when we were outside playing), and a St Christopher the Navy gave my father in WWll (Even though he wasn't religious), on a chain around my neck. I never leave the house without them.

2

speaking of sweaters i still have a black and red Perry Como button up V neck i have had since early 60,s still looks sharp,,My son wore it to high school in late 80,s and everyone wanted to know where to go it ,will never be outof fashion,,But saving much less these days and miniminizing,,so only pics and a few treasured family history stuff

2

Everything we own, large or small, have a story and those memories would be gone if we don't keep something to associate those memories with. That's why I collect stuff and get great pleasure to have it organized.

2

I have a pin cushion that was my mother's. My daughter once made a cutsey smile with straight pins in it and I went ballistic. It's not something I want to be played with. To this day my daughter doesn't understand the significance of it (my mom dies when she was an infant)

I have a triskelion pendant (he has Celtic heritage) that I wear around my neck that reminds me of my late husband.

I have my father's slide ruler (he was a Chemistry teacher).

I have my youngest son's hospital bracelet (he died of SIDS).

My daughter made me a stuffed elephant for Mother's day from scrap material. I will always cherish it.

I cherish the memories in the little things. The (monetary) value of the present means nothing to me.

@kiramea

I am so sorry for the loss of your youngest son and your husband. Hugs.

2

It would be easier for me to list what I HAVEN'T saved. I am a semi-hoarder and keep a lot of stuff that I should pass on or pitch. There's no real rhyme or reason to any of it, souvenirs from trips (pens are a favorite souvenir, not too expensive and don't take up much room in the suitcase), books (regional cookbooks are another favorite), rocks (including raw amethyst from the mines near Thunder Bay, Ontario), etc. I have pictures from my parents' wedding, and when I am gone, there will be no one left to want those photos, no one to pass them down to. I should be culling stuff out; but boy, is THAT a process I am not looking forward to!!

2

The strangest thing I kept is KFC uniform top that I bought in a thrift store and later wore on an album cover (with fishnet stockings and Chucks) for some friends' band. Yes, I still have the album as well.

MizJ Level 8 May 20, 2019
2

A few of my keys to old cars and homes. My books. That's about it. As far as neat and organized, I wish. Still have a lot of clutter, some of it stuff I kept from my late wife's things that I am not ready to toss yet. Unfortunately, there is no one to give those things to.

2

Hardly anything.
I am not the most sentimental person on the planet.
It's all just stuff to me.

1

This little guy, for one. I gave it to Vicki when she was sick. I picked it up in Nogales, Sonora.

1

I tend to save too many things for sentimental reasons. I love old time pieces and I have an old deck watch that belonged to my father. I also have a pocket watch and a ships compass that was his.

1

Dog tags few decorations my ex hated service threw most of my stuff away medals citations etc

bobwjr Level 10 May 20, 2019
1

Jeez Louise, I've kept numerous items as memorabilia of my Late, Lamented Daughter, Lorrae, including some hair from her very first hair-cut kept in tightly sealed plastic bag., there is even the dried up piece of her umbilical cord in tightly sealed ceramic jar that I placed under the root-ball of a tree I planted about a week after she was born as a kind of time-capsule as well, the tree is now well over 20 feet high and still growing strong.
These days I also stow away drawings done for me by my 5 year old nephew, Henry, and some very old coins that I'll pass on to Henry one day.

1

For many years... well until my 20's I was saving the cross I carried as a new born... impression of my teeth while teething guess was the best feature. I don't know what happened but maybe when my mother passes (on her 90's) I may find it again. I have the bad habit of disposing of dear things when I move and being a Gipsy I move a lot. Items like sport coats, boots, items I did when working in leather back in 1975... wallet of my own design, drawings.... but... things I write are dear to me so I am holding to notebooks from the 70's... memo books from my Navy days... I wish I had kept a Puerto Rico version tv guide crediting me with a interview/story of Salsa Greats Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. I was still in High School. So I can say I had been published. If I wrote it... I want to keep it. My EX sure keeping things of my children. I am holding on to a number of things of my departed daughter... PC, Laptops.... want to remove the Hard Drives before I dispose. She was a writer too. I let go of a lot of things but memories persist.

1

I saved love notes from high school, rare fossils, gifts from those that chose to care for me... It was all lost in one go. Now I keep good people near me. I will lose them one day, but they have been giving me more joy.

1

Too much crap in fairness. I'm too sentimental with things that I really shouldn't.

1

I have a few items that are kicking around that I stress out about whenever I come across them because I can't bear to part from them but I'm not really sure where to keep them. You've given me the idea to make a treasure chest and print out the story for each item.

During the divorce I was unavoidably sperated from my kids for a while right as my oldest, Eliora, was having her tenth birthday. I didn't get to see her for several days before and after the date. On her birthday I went over to a friend's house unannounced. She had other company so I was just sitting there visiting with the two of them. I would have told my friend about my daughter's birthday if she'd been alone but with her friend there, I didn't want to open up about such a sad subject for me.

All of the sudden my friend said, I have something for you! She popped up off the couch and started rummaging around in the papers on her desk. I was mystified. Finally she pulled out a white piece of paper with some drawings on it. She brought it to me, explaining that when she had been babysitting Eliora a few weeks earlier, she'd drawn it. She'd just barely run across it. Of course, I lost it and broke down sobbing. After I told my friend it was Eliora's birthday we had to explain to her friend about the whole divorce and everything.

During that same time a sweet lady tried to get my son and his sister make necklaces for me. My daughter made a cute necklace on red yarn but my son made a "snake" instead of a necklace. I wore the necklace all throughout the divorce proceedings, a beaded yarn necklace along with my dressy court clothes, but eventually it broke and I lost all the beads. I still have the snake though.

There's a few other things that could go in a treasure box. I love telling stories and can't wait to put it together.

1

There are tons of those touristy pan for gold mines around here off the highways and in North Carolina. My sister n I loved them growing up despite now knowing that it’s dirt shipped in from China with cheap gems planted. Still fun! Somewhere I’m sure I’ve still got a couple leather pouches of polished stones, arrowheads, and coins. And I’ve got a jewelry chest full of pocketknives, pocket watches, rings, and tie clips that I’ve collected or from my grandparents. I try to save ticket stubs from movies and concerts and the in memory pamphlets from family funerals but I don’t do a great job keeping up with them in one place so most of them are gone. And I think somewhere I’ve got a cigar box full of the set lists from every show I’ve played.

1

Moving internationally has stepped out most of mine. A few rocks, some bits and pieces from the band I was in, some momentoes from traveling in SE Asia, a few ticket stubs.
Oh, and a spectacular polyester suit. It's white with a turquoise and yellow check pattern, and I've worn it to so many gigs, parties and happenings that I can't part with it.

@MrBeelzeebubbles

Please post a picture of you rocking the spectacular polyester suit.

@LiterateHiker I don't have one! Oh, there's plenty of photos about of me in my party suit, but they've all been taken by other people. It also has a matching fedora!

1

I have a hammer that was my great grandfather’s - it’s had the head replaced once, and the handle replaced three times.

1

That’s a very funny story about Ken. I love it.

@billhoo

When I got it, I laughed until I cried.

It was the greatest touche' of my life!

It always makes me smile.

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