A place for memories

Etsy

In Monday's post I wrote about Christmas cards and what to do with them. I was thinking about how they can build up year after year if nothing is done with them and how that can pose a storage and clutter issue. But what I didn't address was the fact that sometimes there are cards and letters and memories that we do want to keep ... to go back through them from time to time and remember. 

R. H. Baby & Child

I received an email from a friend of mine after that post and I thought I would share it with you because it is lovely and I like what she says:

"My grandmother (one of the most organized pack rats to ever live) saved certain, special cards. We discovered them after she passed away. They were in a small box that was easily accessible to her. Inside the cards were specific bundles tied with ribbon. They were from special people in her life, and clearly the most important cards from said people. One bundle was from me. She had saved ones from my childhood, when I lived away at college, after I was married, and so on. Many had letters in them. It was very touching to read what I had written to her so many years before, and that she had kept them! One pile was from random people we didn't know, but upon reading the cards could see that they had meant a lot to grandma. When we cleared out her things, each person took their little bundle.

I have always saved special cards. One of my most treasured was the only letter my dad ever wrote me. He sent it the first week I went away to college. After seeing my grandmother's method, I went through every card, divided them, and saved my most treasured ones. They are now in a woven box in my office, and only the most important and meaningful cards make the cut."

I have the same kind of box. And there are days (not often but special when it happens) that I sit down and pull out some of the cards and mementos and look at them. Sometimes, I find that I can let go of a few of the cards. And others I tuck back in. 

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I think it is important that we have a place designated for those special cards and memories or they do end up cluttering up drawers or get mixed in with other papers.  A decorative box, a hat box, or even a small vintage suitcase are all great ways to store the things that you aren't ready to part with. A nice looking box can sit on a bookshelf or even on top of a cabinet and it can add a decorative element to your home and also serve as a home for those special memories. And it will limit you to just "so much". Remember, you don't have to save EVERYTHING!

The Paper Source

The Container Store

See Jane Work

The Paper Source

The Paper Source

The Container Store

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