Organizing Memorabilia: Deciding What To Keep

When I was a teenager I went on a six week bus trip with other teens my age. We traveled to all the historical sites on the East coast. I remember visiting Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and a dozen other states and places. I have been back to many of the same places again but that first trip holds a special place in my life.

About five years after this trip my mother gave me a box filled with the letters I had written to her on that trip as well as other trips I had taken. I immediately walked to the garbage can and threw the box away saying I didn't need any of those letters. I have kicked myself so many times for doing that. Even though I kept a journal of what we did each day I am sure there was other valuable information I could have kept or at least enjoyed reading.

What I personally learned from this is not to be too hasty when throwing away memorabilia. There needs to be a balance between tossing and keeping what comes into our homes. Let's say you have kept everything you ever thought you might want someday and have now decided it is time to get rid of the clutter. Here are some ideas on how to organize so it isn't an overwhelming project. Memorabilia often brings with it a raft of hidden emotions, and sorting through it can be emotional, so be easy on yourself.

Before you start sorting, prepare yourself for the feelings that might come up as you go through the mementos you've gathered. Don't try to go through all of your memorabilia at once; break down your sorting sessions into reasonable chunks of time and give yourself time to decompress as needed between sessions. Be kind to yourself as you sort and get rid of things. If you're feeling overwhelmed, stop and come back to it another day, it doesn't have to all be done in one day. Take baby steps and it will be much more enjoyable and you will be much happier.

Okay here we go:

· Gather up all the photos, cards, letters, mementos, and knickknacks you have accumulated through the years.

· Separate by type---personal, (cards that have been sent to you, old corsages, and so forth), photos, children's things that belong to them, things children have given to you.

· Okay, now everything is all together in boxes or bins start separating into bins specific to each person's items—or as you are gathering the first time separate by person.

Set some limits for yourself as you start this task:

With memorabilia, as with many other things, the more you keep, the less likely it is that everything in your collection will be meaningful. The harder it will be to find space for the pieces that are really important to you. Setting limits as to how much of each kind of memento you'll keep can help make both sorting and storage easier.

Let's start with the children's things you are keeping to give to them someday:

· If you have started a baby book or a life book evaluate if it should be kept there. Ask the question will it be meaningful to your child in the future? As the child gets older and there are programs from school, music recitals etc. decide if it still needs to be kept. (In the future make that decision at the time of the event and put it their baby book so you don't have to come back later to do it). Be honest and ruthless when making decisions. As children get older the programs and other memorabilia you are keeping for them may no longer be important.

· It is not possible to keep every piece of art work or school work your children bring home. Nor is it necessary. Yearly, for each of your children keep about ten selected pieces. Place them in a large manila envelope; label the outside with child's name, date, age of child, grade in school and name of school teacher. In the same envelope keep a sampling of their school work, math, geography etc. On each child's closet shelf place these in a banker box (clear plastic is preferred as it lasts longer than cardboard and is more protected in case it ever gets wet).

Children's stuff you will keep for yourself:

As for things children have written, drawn or given to you; decide if you really need, want or have to keep it. If it doesn't light you up and isn't valuable to you, then toss it. It's okay, you probably didn't remember you had it in the first place. If it is a keeper start a book that will be for you to store them in. Plastic 8' X 10" sleeves work well and can be kept in a three ring binder. Label the outside of the binder and put on a shelf. If it is a hand print in plaster (we all have them) or something else that won't fit into a binder get you a 'treasure box' to keep the items in and store the box on a closet shelf. If artwork is too big to put in a folder, either keep it in the treasure box or take a picture of it for your album. Then get rid of the item—you have preserved the memory.

Photos:

There are many ways to take care of treasured photos:

· Place them in a photo box designed for this purpose; they come with separators that you label by year, person, event, etc.

· Put them in a photo album with the plastic sleeves you slip the photo into. There are different styles; there is the kind you write next to the photo, others you slip a label in, that is between the photos.

· Scrap booking photos: This method takes a lot of time and expense. If your object is to get your photos contained so you can enjoy them I discourage this method.

· If you have such a large mixture of photos and you can't see yourself sorting each photo by year or activity, don't. Just slip them into the sleeve and know they are contained and can still be enjoyed when you or others are looking through the books. (I know this from personal experience). No one has every complained that they are out of order.

Cards, letters and other mementos:

If you have a strong emotional attachment to the cards or letters you have received, this is fine but they need to be filed so you can get to them and enjoy them in the future. If someone has written you a special poem for instance it isn't doing anything for you if you don't know where to find it. Remember, you don't have to keep everything.

· Place them in the plastic sleeves as with photos described above.

· Glue in a notebook so you can access them readily when you want to read the sentiments.

Letting go of the things that really aren't that important is a big step as well as a big challenge. Keep reminding yourself what your goal is; things like getting rid of clutter, having a place to keep what is important, and being able to find what you treasure. Setting limits doesn't mean you need to be spartan in what you keep, or that you must force yourself to get rid of memorabilia that truly has value to you. Rather, it means focusing more on the quality of what you keep and less on the quantity.