Dealing with Sentimental Clutter (Part One)

By calling this Part One, I'm already admitting that there will be more than one post about Sentimental Stuff.   It's what I have the most trouble with. 

My latest battle has been a large old grey suitcase which my parents "presented me with" a couple of months ago.   Unfortunately it contained a bucket-load of sentimental stuff (including paperwork) that they had kept for the last twenty-something years.   So it is my job to go through the stuff and keep what I want, then give them back an empty suitcase.   Easy for some..... right?

The first time I looked inside, I couldn't throw out anything.   Then a few weeks ago, I sat down with my dear hubby, and tried to go through things and decide what really had value.  One of the things that went in the recycling bin was my art collection, which was pretty much everything I'd ever painted in school.   Let's face it, I was never good at drawing or painting, so there was nothing there worth framing.

Much harder to part with was a giant red pen shaped like a daschund dog, a souvenir of Halls Gap.  My reason for wanting to keep it?  "Well..... but it's a dog!"  After much agonizing, in the end I threw it out, as it doesn't even write anymore!   But you can see how hard it is for me to get rid of any possessions.

Yesterday I sorted through the masses of greeting cards which were also stored in the suitcase.   I managed to recycle about half of them, but this is still an ongoing process.  I think I will just pick out my absolute favourites, which seems the easier way to go.  My mother advises me she has kept every single birthday card and Christmas card I have ever given her.   Now you can see where my hoarding tendencies come from!!