especially when i was going thru photos for ds2's wedding in 06 (they had his pix on one side and dil's same age on the other for center pieces)

i also recently went thru mother's desk again again and tossed stuff (nothing sentimental)

we helped fil start getting dh's aunt's place cleaned out and threw away at least 10 bags of just plain junk...i suddenly realize what was important to her (other than photos i gave a cousin) wasn't worth anything, to anyone else, including salvation army...

Those are such fun times for me to sit down and go thru stuff from long long ago!! My mom never threw anything away, I on the underhand decided I was gonna throw EVERYTHING away, so don't have much...but what I do have is VERY special to me...Enjoying your looking back time! You'll eventually get it organized and so what if you don't!

Anne, I have the whole pile of letters Jerry wrote to me while I was on vacation during our "courtship time", and later when he was back in Oklahoma for four weeks. But honest, right now at this moment I don't know where they are.
I also have letters from both my grandmas, same thing, not sure where in this house.

Moni

When my Daddy died and we dismantled his house (my mother died before Daddy), I found a small metal box w/ a lock. DH was able to open it and inside were pictures of some of his old girlfriends. I can only assume they were before my mothers' time. I love the old fashioned clothes and old cars. I could only think, "you go, Daddy."

DH is the type that tosses stuff if you haven't used in a year or two so we don't have much stored away. Definitely not the sentimental type. I am the kind that would have kept everything so I could do what you did and reminisce about the past.
Clare

I think notes from old friends and family would be neat to have around.

I helped clean out a house once after someone had died. We found notes and pictures from an old girlfriend before the man had married his wife. Unlike Vannie, I was offended by it. I felt it was disrespectful to his wife to have held onto items from a previous relationship.

I've saved so much over the years. I have a trunk full of memorabilia, boxes of old letters and cards, art projects DD made. One day I need to go through them and discard some of it. It's nice though knowing I have the last letters my DGM and Aunt wrote to me before they passed away.

I think it might be a neat idea to put some of the letters together and add a tag for a relative who might want to read them one day. I think my cousin's DD might enjoy reading letters that her mother had written long ago. That way when I am gone, my DH or DD will know where those things should go, otherwise I am sure they will be pitched.

I was engaged to someone else before I met my husband. I had some photos, cards and letters from him saved in a box. After I was married about 5 years, I destroyed everything. I wouldn't want DH to find them if I pre-deceased him. My husband was also married before and kept his wedding album. Our daughter went snooping and found it. His first wife was named Patricia and our daughter is Roxanne Patricia. Roxanne thought her real mother was Pat and that she was named for her. . We explained it was not true and that she was named after her Aunt Pat, DH sister.

Hey, Anne,

Sounds like you have a "thing" for guys named Ken!!!

Linda

I have a letter my mom wrote me about 25 years ago. Everyone in my family except me lived in Florida at the time. They had hit a rough patch financially, and mom's letter came at Christmas, explaining why she couldn't send me a Christmas or birthday gift. She instead sent a little ornament and explained how she and her sisters treasured the "little things" like that they received over the years from their mom (my grandma).

I treasure that ornament every year when I hang it on the tree, and I bawl like a baby every time I read that letter.

LOL Linda, ya think? In Calgary I had a roommate named Ken, I had a boyfriend named Ken, I have a cousin named Ken, I have a friend/neighbour named Ken and then handyman Ken. LOL Lots of Kens. Never wanted a Ken doll though.

I should start getting rid of things. I did start on my cards last summer. I have every card and letter and school note since the day I was born. I have all the cards I have every received from KTers too I keep them in boxes separated by year. So that is 51 years worth of cards. LOL I even have all my school Valentine cards. I love taking them out once in a while and I look through the early ones. I love the graphics on some of the older cards. I love seeing the signatures of my Great Grandma Paul and 2 sets of Grandparents, Great Aunt, my God Parents and my Aunts and Uncles. I tell 2 of my nieces I saved all these things to prove I was loved. I am only partially joking about that.

Every once in a while though I purge and get rid of things that are in the attic. When HK was working here last year I got rid of a lot of things I was saving like all my school note books and college notes. I kept my projects though. LOL As I was going through the stuff with him we had some good laughs which made it easier to get rid of these things. LOL I need Handsome Ken to come back so I can get rid of more things. LOL

I am glad I found these letters though because I never knew where they were and I thought they had been thrown out years ago by my brother when he was cleaning out the attic.

I think I will start making notes to tell why I saved certain things and what they meant to me for whoever goes through my things after I am gone. That is a good idea Lydia.

(((Rita)))

Going through the attic one year I found some things that belonged to my Uncle Earl that he had given my Dad. Uncle Earl was married to my Dad's sister and they were in the navy together. Looks like he had an affair when he was overseas in England because there were letters from a woman. My Mom always thought my Dad met somebody when he was in England too. Before my Uncle Earl passed away he gave this box to my Dad because he probably didn't want my Aunt to find it.

Anne