I got on a bit of an organizational kick this weekend (that’s a good thing), and after I purged my closet, I organized our bookshelves, cleaned off my dresser, and started to go through my “sentimental” boxes.
Steven and I each have a few boxes we keep little tokens in – mostly cards/letters, but also brochures, guides, a few photos, and in his case, race bibs and medals. The boxes were completely full, and I needed to make room in them to add a few more things, so… I had to do another purge. A sentimental purge.
The boxes before
I went through each item, one by one, reading them all. I was surprised to find myself getting a bit emotional. There were cards in there with a lot of meaning – cards from people no longer alive, cards with special messages, cards sent to me when I lived in Italy… I felt pretty worked up looking at them all.
It amazed me that just from reading these cards, I could remember the time they were given to me, and the significance of the words in them… and how receiving it made me feel at the time.
In the end, I ended up saving a lot of them – if they had special meaning, or if I just thought they were cute. I only got rid of the ones that didn’t have much in them (for a message from the sender).
The boxes after
The Ferrari bag is full of travel items, and underneath is a stack of letters. If I was really organized, they would be in chronological order. Nope.
A very small sample of some I saved
The cards to get rid of (maybe donate to one of those places that reuses old cards)
I felt really guilty getting rid of cards, but, I can’t hold on to them forever, right?
How long do you keep cards you’ve received? How do you decide which to keep? Which ones have really special meaning to you?
Going through all of these, it became aware to me how much time and thought people put in to these cards. Writing something meaningful in a card is sometimes important, and that is not something I am good at. I would like to work at becoming a better “card writer.”
I’m not good at saving cards. I do have a few from my Mom and one special one from my best friend but not too many others. I probably should be better about saving cards.
Wow! You really were on a roll.
I have a small blank page notebook I bought YEARS ago that I put all ticket stubs and small cards (like the kind that come with flowers) into. Otherwise I don’t save cards. Maybe somewhere I have a box filled with all the notes my junior high and high school friends and I wrote each other (did you pass notes in school?) but I’m not sure if I even still have that.
I guess I’m not a very sentimental person.
Aww, I like that idea! Like a little scrapbook.
Oh yeah, I passed notes in high school, big time. I had them all until I went through a purge the summer after my freshman year and decided to get rid of them. I threw my diaries away too!
I did a big purge in the summer. I love getting rid of stuff I don’t need anymore, it makes me feel good, especially when I am able to donate some of the items. I love your black and red boxes!
I can pretty safely say that I still have every card I’ve ever received. It’s not like I have LOADS of them — just birthday cards, mostly from my parents. And I’m not old enough for them to take up THAT much space.
<3 <3
I did a “sentimental” purge on New Years Day. I tend to also keep cards for a long time, esp if they come from a certain sender (my grandmother, parents, etc) or if they represent a significant event (i.e. graduation, significant birthday)
I got rid of some less sentimental stuff this time around (movie ticket stubs, cards without notes, or ANYTHING associated with an ex-b/f that somehow had not already been purged) With the latter, I tried to make sure that was done before Matt and I moved in together b/c I would never want him to think I was hanging on to something or holding out for an old flame but my stuff was previously a bit more spread out/mixed in different boxes so some of it slipped through the cracks.
Yes! I have them in a big Rubbermaid container. I probably need to go through them, but I hate getting rid of stuff like that….
I keep almost NO cards. If it were homemade and really heartfelt and meaningful, I guess I would. I think I have about 6 total. From my entire lifespan.
I keep a few as evidence. Hahaha (true though).
I didn’t keep a lot of cards. I have some that I received when I was in college and most of the ones I got from my husband when we were dating. Otherwise I just keep letters. I have a stack of letters from my best friend from elementary school. We kept in touch during high school via letters in high school. Now we have facebook, but those letters are so precious to me.
I have a serious problem throwing away cards. I have boxes of them which seriously puts a dent in our storage space. Oops.
One of my co-workers once told me “Don’t bother giving me cards, I just throw them away.”
Um, ?
I guess it was nice of her to be honest, but it also made me sort of sad.
I EVENTUALLY throw away cards, but I still at least feel compelled to hold on to them for a little while. Or until I need the person’s address next–ha ha. 🙂
Well, according to George Costanza on Seinfeld, the minimum for keeping cards is two days. 🙂 I’m a big card saver. I have lots of old cards, although I have done a purge or two to get rid of, like you said, the ones that just have the person’s name signed and no message. (Unless it was from Grandma; those get saved forever).
I used to keep cards, but when we moved and I had to go through SO MANY of them I now stop myself from keeping them. While purging for our move I forced myself to keep things like cards from my 16th, 18th, and 21st birthdays, graduations, and ones from my deceased great grandma or just super thoughtful, sweet ones.
Saved all Christmas cards since 1979, is that ok? I love them.
Kim do you remember the Christmas house we visited in Ames that used their Christmas cards as wall paper in one of the rooms? I thought it was really cool. I think we have a picture of that some where don’t we?
All of yours (taken) or all of the ones you have received?
I remember the house but not that wall. We probably do have a pic. You take pics of everything!
I too save cards that have a personal message or letter from the person who sent it, or photo cards… Getting a real letter is becoming so rare these days!
Love that penguin card in the photo above.
My wife and I were just talking about this the other day. I save all of my cards from my mom (when she was alive), my daughter and some special ones over the years. Otherwise, I recycle the rest.
Steven’s parents gave me that card last year! You open it up and it’s all these cutout penguins dressed like they are from around the world 🙂
I am a big saver of things that are special to me. I have several “special boxes” that are filled with cards and little memories of people. My daughter just got a birthday card in the mail, read it and then threw it away. I guess she doesn’t have the sentimental thing going on.
Ha! Guess it is not inherited? Ha ha.
I have a box of sentimental cards and things I’ve received as well. The ones I have at my current home are recent but I also have some stored at my parents house. I love keeping things like that to look back on 🙂