My mother is moving this weekend, so I was at her apartment sorting through my belongings. Since she is going to a smaller apartment, she needs to dispose of a large amount of things.
Going through everything, I got a bit nostalgic. It is difficult to give away or throw out things. Every item brings back memories... an album brings memories of what I was doing and where I was when I was listening to it... a shirt brings memories of where I wore it... but I discovered that nothing brings back more memories than papers.
Ticket stubs. Books. Notes. Doodles. Letters. School papers. Acceptance and rejection letters. Photographs. Receipts. Diplomas, certificates, and awards.
They are tangible objects that contain such specific information that they are powerful memory enhancers. These things reminds us of what, where, and with whom we were doing a certain thing, what we thought at a certain time, important occurrences in our lives, the thoughts of meaningful people, on what we decided to spend our hard-earned money, what we read, how we looked, and infinite other details. They are a collection of pieces that narrate our lives. They are, more than a lot of other things, a physical reminder that we were here, that we lived our lives.
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