So, after lunch we dug in. I got almost everything out except these boxes.
The two shoe boxes are Lee's love letters. [The larger plastic bin actually contains his baseball card collection. YES. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE USING OUR PRIME STORAGE REAL ESTATE FOR.]
Ahem.
The flowered box contains the only love letters that I have kept. [And Lee calls me a pack rat.]
Whenever we clean out this closet, [if you can believe that we have ever cleaned it out before, given its prior state] it always comes down to this. He hasn't been able to actually throw them away yet. In his defense, they are not all love letters. Many are. [If you have ever figured prominently in my husband's life, by the way, I have read your letters.] But others are letters that his grandfather wrote to him when he was in college, cards from his mother and grandmothers-- precious things. Those won't go anywhere.
But the love letters. Hm. I vote for burning. [Except the ones from me, of course.]
What do you think? What have you done with your old love letters?
I know someone who still has *pathetic* love letters (get my reference?). At first I thought burning was the best option... but I decided that they hold some entertainment value: (Really? Who says that?)
ReplyDeleteHere's my test...if one day your children (mine: hypothetical, yours: MB) were to find and read these letters, would they have a sentimental moment where they get to know something about your (Lee's) younger self, and/or a chuckle, or would it be awkward/inappropriate/weird/etc.? Because if it falls in that last category, definitely get rid of it. If you keep those around, you know MB will find them one day.
ReplyDeleteAh! Jilly. Such wisdom. I will burn mine immediately.
ReplyDeleteMolly, I do indeed catch your reference. :) I'm sure those letters are quite a laugh.
I like Jill's litmus test, I should take her advice pertaining to the love letters. That said, i have almost every snail mail letter, birthday card, note, diary, planner, greeting etc from about 1990. I bundled the paperwork with rubber bands and stacked them in a big Rubbermaid tub with a snap lock lid. Toss in a few childhood/teen keepsakes and voila! Perfectly acceptable, bug free, stackable storage that is (somewhat) toddler proof. And totally fun / cringeworthy entertainment. As for it getting better with age, time can only tell.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i love Etsy.
I tossed everything from anyone that wasn't Jon. It took until after we were married and my choices were moving them to Florida from Virginia or chucking them, but even though Jon would never have read them, I would have DIED if he had read them. Or had Mattie read them. That said, Jon just threw out pictures of him with his college girlfriend LAST YEAR. So we could make room for OUR baby. :)
ReplyDeleteBurn the shit. I have tossed pictures, letters, presents. I can't believe you had made it this long with this in the house. I have thrown away pictures that had no people in them that were from trips that I know Matt took with other people. All things being even, I have no pictures of a rather fabulous trip I tool to Europe with another dude. Those were tossed as well.
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ReplyDeletethis whole entire thing made me lol. lee? love letters? oooh, i bet i have some juicy wake forest gossip to add to some of those!!! do divulge some details for my entertainment, please:) lol.
ReplyDeleteStewart only has them from me, so that made that easy and I don't really have many others that I even know where they are. Maybe one or two but I stuck them in an old journal somewhere. Maybe burnage is a good idea?
ReplyDeleteJill makes a good point, I would use that test. I think my Mom made the executive decision to get rid of mine when they moved out of the house I grew up in, and I haven't missed them at all.
ReplyDeleteI am totally with Laura on this. Burn baby burn. Maybe keep one if it is especially funny, but other than that, bleh...this reminds me that I need to get rid of lots of pictures. I never kept old love notes or keepsakes from other relationships because I think I wanted to kill all prior BFs.
ReplyDelete