Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes I have an old fashion box that has old highschool letters. Prom items, photo book, ticket stubs, saved white roses that were in my hair. Photos of a party with old friends New Years 1999, baby pics, my sons hospital bracelet, his baby hat and booties, cards from family members, letters froma pen pal, letters from a friend whom went to Italy for a mission trip, letter from my cousin when he was in the marines, pics of trips I went on.
Now the internet wasn't as big as it is now.
Op I actually love looking at these. Reminding myself of all the fun times I had.
Isn't it great? I had the kids baby boxes out and my daughter and I were looking through them and I could just see the happiness in her eyes that I had some of the things she was looking through. She was able to physically touch and hold the outfit she came home from the hospital in and many things from the hospital.
Of course her first pair of glasses were in there from when she was only 2 or 3 years old and so many other things. The ultrasound pictures and pacifiers. A lock of hair from her first haircut. There were just more things than a baby book could hold. That is in the box as well. Unfortunately I did not have a working camera when she was a baby. There were many more pictures of my son in his box than of her in hers. For that, I feel pretty bad.
We have "scrapbooks" and have done so since we met. Simple ( but esthetically pleasing) A4 "notebooks" which where we stick little mementoes like theatre and cinema tickets, receipts from restaurants and hotels which mean something special to us, travel mementoes, little notes to one another, cards, little things which amuse us in the news, cartoons etc...just little memories.
I think we probably fill one book a year-ish so our house is not littered with stuff ( we have a box in the attic) as I do not like clutter. And we also have a nice leather box ( also in the attic with slightly bulkier things like theatre programmes).
And we do like to revisit those things once in a while, like photos they jog your memory...
Most of my memories are within me but a few mementoes are lovely and I look forward to having them as we grow old.
Going over this thread makes me want to get all of the different things together and in their places. Maybe that will be something to do for my daughter and I. I will forever be collecting things having to do with she and my son....
I am hoping to also be forever collecting things for SO and I. I saw your story in "the one" thread and it was moving. Mine is much the same...
I have boxes of stuff,
some things you just hate to throw out-feels like you are throwing a part of you away,
I remember when my sister and I found my grandmothers' boxes when we were young- we had a blast going thru it-pics of family members, letters etc.... that told me -at a young age,,dont be so quick to throw stuff out
Going over this thread makes me want to get all of the different things together and in their places. Maybe that will be something to do for my daughter and I. I will forever be collecting things having to do with she and my son....
I am hoping to also be forever collecting things for SO and I. I saw your story in "the one" thread and it was moving. Mine is much the same...
In a way I think those mementoes come in handy when you most feel at a low ebb and feel ungrateful about your life as I think many of us do at times. When you are having a "Biblical Job" moment it helps to look back and be reminded of exactly how much you have done, seen, laughed, cried and had fun together.
Hubby and I are both feeling quite miserable at the moment, not with each other but with life in general and I think I shall get our scrapbook from last year out this evening just as a visual aid of exactly how much we have done and achieved in the last year.
It is often easy to feel sorry for yourself when life gets you down and to forget that actually you are in many ways quite lucky and have someone you have shared so many fabulous memories with.
People often focus mostly on the "big" things in life or the expensive gifts but sometimes little things are those things which add up to a lot.
We had a fantastic vacation in Oregon last fall and during our visit watched "Portlandia" on TV which made us laugh a lot.
At Christmas I bought him a couple of stickers related ot Portland and "Portlandia" ( for the grand sum of about $5 ! ) and it put a big smile of his face and it now graces his desk and has been scanned into his computer. Because it reminds him of something good, something positive and something we shared.... A simply visual aid but effective.
We also have a simple print of "Bowen Island" in BC where we had one of those utterly "Perfect Days". every time we look at it , it brings back that day as if it was yesterday. We did not spend a fortune on that day , nor did we do anything extraordinary. Yet it was one of the moments you just want to freeze forever and which is for whatever reason a little space in time of utter happiness and delight. A moment which even at the time you just realise is truly special.
I really don't think people's houses need to be taken over with clutter, you can cram in a lot of memories in a fairly small space....
I cherish my little mementoes and it would be one of those things I tried to save from a fire. You can always get a new TV or Sofa, a new dining table or even a new house but your memories are so much more precious because they are yours and cannot be replaced.
I wonder if there is a difference in the types of people and personalities who do and do not have things like this..... I have a feeling there is.
A tree cannot survive without its roots.
I'm guessing remembering positive aspects of life has something to do with personalities who share the idea of making peace with the past which provides meaning for the present and reminds us of where we strive to be at in the future?
I see it more as an empowerment and self-actualization tool.
In a way I think those mementoes come in handy when you most feel at a low ebb and feel ungrateful about your life as I think many of us do at times. When you are having a "Biblical Job" moment it helps to look back and be reminded of exactly how much you have done, seen, laughed, cried and had fun together.
Hubby and I are both feeling quite miserable at the moment, not with each other but with life in general and I think I shall get our scrapbook from last year out this evening just as a visual aid of exactly how much we have done and achieved in the last year.
It is often easy to feel sorry for yourself when life gets you down and to forget that actually you are in many ways quite lucky and have someone you have shared so many fabulous memories with.
People often focus mostly on the "big" things in life or the expensive gifts but sometimes little things are those things which add up to a lot.
We had a fantastic vacation in Oregon last fall and during our visit watched "Portlandia" on TV which made us laugh a lot.
At Christmas I bought him a couple of stickers related ot Portland and "Portlandia" ( for the grand sum of about $5 ! ) and it put a big smile of his face and it now graces his desk and has been scanned into his computer. Because it reminds him of something good, something positive and something we shared.... A simply visual aid but effective.
We also have a simple print of "Bowen Island" in BC where we had one of those utterly "Perfect Days". every time we look at it , it brings back that day as if it was yesterday. We did not spend a fortune on that day , nor did we do anything extraordinary. Yet it was one of the moments you just want to freeze forever and which is for whatever reason a little space in time of utter happiness and delight. A moment which even at the time you just realise is truly special.
I really don't think people's houses need to be taken over with clutter, you can cram in a lot of memories in a fairly small space....
I cherish my little mementoes and it would be one of those things I tried to save from a fire. You can always get a new TV or Sofa, a new dining table or even a new house but your memories are so much more precious because they are yours and cannot be replaced.
Well, I hope you got your scrapbook out last night and that it brought smiles to your faces.
It is really something how looking at something, touching or feeling a small item can bring the feelings rushing in. The excitement of a day you've spent together.
I have also kept things that are a bit sad. Things from my parents. It reminds me that life is short and that we need to live every moment of it like it's our last day. Let people know what they mean to you.
I'm guessing remembering positive aspects of life has something to do with personalities who share the idea of making peace with the past which provides meaning for the present and reminds us of where we strive to be at in the future?
I see it more as an empowerment and self-actualization tool.
Well I think this is an absolute great post.
It makes me think of all the times as a little girl asking my dad, "And what is this one from?" I asked him over and over even though I had heard the story before. It started from a very early time in my life, I guess the first I remember was about 3-4.
Over and over I heard the stories and it was just a time to share with my father, as a younger little girl, sitting on his lap and sitting next to him as I got older.
The stories became my fathers history that I know hold. I hold them in my heart and in my mind and have shared them with my own children. My daughter is more interested in all of these type things than my son is, but at any rate, I love sharing all of these things with them both in the hopes that one day the lives of their mother and grandparents and great grandparents will live on through them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
