I'm a sentimental guy. I like to collect things that remind me of the good times in my life. But, sometimes, I also collect "things" for no particular reason.
Our future lifestyle necessitates that I let go of some of those things. Thanks to Ellen's parents allowing us some room for storage at their house, I don't need to purge all those "things" from my life, but I do need to get rid of most of them. This has been a difficult task for a die-hard, sentimental pack rat.
For the sake of illustration, I give you a few examples. First, a non-sentimental example. I had several records that I recently gave to a friend. This wasn't too difficult since I know that, with some combination of E-Bay and craigslist, I could probably find most of them again.
I present to you my tiny little record collection:
More difficult was the shedding of my T-Shirt Collection. I capitalize the subject in that sentence because those of you who know me well are quite familiar with said T-Shirt Collection. I haven't yet parted with all of them, but following are a few samples for your pleasure.
Finally, a jumbled combination of sentimental, useful and worthless.
Among other things, this 2' x 2' x 1.75' box contained:
Part of my coping process is documentation. I feel that if I have a photograph or some other record of a "thing" that was formerly in my life, it will trigger the same good memories as the thing itself. And digital memories are so much lighter to carry around with me.
Our future lifestyle necessitates that I let go of some of those things. Thanks to Ellen's parents allowing us some room for storage at their house, I don't need to purge all those "things" from my life, but I do need to get rid of most of them. This has been a difficult task for a die-hard, sentimental pack rat.
For the sake of illustration, I give you a few examples. First, a non-sentimental example. I had several records that I recently gave to a friend. This wasn't too difficult since I know that, with some combination of E-Bay and craigslist, I could probably find most of them again.
I present to you my tiny little record collection:
More difficult was the shedding of my T-Shirt Collection. I capitalize the subject in that sentence because those of you who know me well are quite familiar with said T-Shirt Collection. I haven't yet parted with all of them, but following are a few samples for your pleasure.
Finally, a jumbled combination of sentimental, useful and worthless.
Among other things, this 2' x 2' x 1.75' box contained:
- Every paystub I ever received since my first job as a waiter at Ponderosa Steakhouse
- Tax documents (older than seven years, of course)
- Bank account statements
- ATM receipts. You Grand Rapids folks will appreciate these ones.
- Social Security statements
- Medical records
- Utility bills
- Insurance coverage information
- Credit card receipts
Part of my coping process is documentation. I feel that if I have a photograph or some other record of a "thing" that was formerly in my life, it will trigger the same good memories as the thing itself. And digital memories are so much lighter to carry around with me.
Wait... Jon.... send the Lithuanian shirt here!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGuys, be aware of homeless people!... Don't become ones too fast... :) Good Luck on your travel!
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