Hanging On To Our Past...

[azskyman]

We build memories all our lives. Something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich hangs around in our mind for days, weeks, months, years, and then decades!

Also, most of us can talk hours about a handful of momentos we've accumulated and the stories that go with them.

Right beside my desk is the bible my mom and dad gave me at confirmation. Next to that is the daily journal I kept during my time in Vietnam. On my bookshelf is a barograph that literally wrote a 16-year history of weather back in Illinois. The last graph from the day I left Illinois is still on it.

Down the hallway is my golden metal ruler I would get out of the drawer when I was teaching...as a sign I meant business! I would smack it on my desk and it had such as special POP when I did. The room would grow so very quiet.

In my wallet I carry a tiny laminated copy of my discharge papers from the US Army. I still have a pair of scissors I forgot to return to my friend back in about 6th grade. In the closet are a handful of coin folders from my days collecting pennies and nickels back in my early teens. And a Buck knife my sons and I found while climbing to the top of Gore Pass in central Colorado back in the 80's.

There's a slide rule from high school physics class. A few postcards from former Olympic skater Janet Lynn are in a box with my Bronze Star from Vietnam. I still use a hammer that my dad got from his dad. I have my signed copy of The American Weather Book by weather historian David Ludlum who sat with me at lunch that day over corned beef and cabbage!

I'm not a "saver," so I could take all of those items and put them into a single small box with room to spare. Still, what great stories there are behind each of those items!

So...what items (besides photos), however small, are still such an important part of your life that you just can let them go?

Oh, and about that grilled cheese sandwich! We did eat it, not save it, but the story is about WHERE we ate it...at a sidewalk cafe on a sunny afternoon in Zermatt, Switzerland. The Matterhorn was our view!

[azsnowman]

I still wear my dogtags from the Navy (circa 1976) in my work boots. I worked on the flight deck and we had to wear our tags on the laces JUST in case we were blown over the side by jet blasts.

I have a token in my pocket that has a lighthouse with the words "You are the Light of the World, go forth and let that light shine!"

A decoration plate from Adak Alaska hangs above the computer monitor.

My Peanuts and Snoopy collection is in the office, figurines etc.

Dennis

[mf_dolphin]

I keep my 5th Special Forces coin in my wallet. Not too many "Air Force Pukes" like me have those. They're given by the SF groups for special circumstances. I also keep my camo "boonie hat". The wife tried to throw it out twice but now she understands that it's been around longer than her The other things I keep close are the things that the children have made for me over the years at school. You know those wonderfully ugly bits of art and crafts that have so much love involved in making them. They would be one of the first things in the truck if we have to evacuate in a hurricane

[Josephine96]

I have a few reminders from my past..

I still have a picture of my high school sweetheart out for everyone to see. {everyone thinks I should put it away} But I really loved her.. {even if she did dump me right before graduation}..

I also remember the day I got my 1st kiss very well.. {May 24th 1994 so the 10 year anniversary is coming lol}

I don't have many things that I could consider priceless. I think just the memories or the still photos etched in my mind are...

Forgive me if that sounds silly..

[therock1811]

I have a lot of things...mainly mementos from my birth, as well as numerous cards received during my month-long illness in 2000......other than that, not much...

[Josephine96]

I think we all have things Jeremy.. Even if they are like mine where they are just memories and still photos in your brain..

[streetsoldier]

I still have my AF dog tags on my key ring, and a "MIKE Force" cloissonne enamel flash from the "old days"; medals are gone, but my ribbon bar and rank bars are still carefully kept in a box in my dresser, and I still have my "black sail" beret in my closet.

Other than those, I have ONE surviving piece of my artwork, sent to me by the widower of a friend that I gave it to back in 1978, now framed on my wall.

Most of my paperwork, "wallpaper", etc. was damaged beyond saving from mildew after being stored in my in-law's garage for three years...oh, well...

[raine]

I am a "saver"....throughout my house I have "things' that are so very special to me...

I do have my "favorite" save things tho'

my captain wings....always they will be a special reminder of a special time in my life

an old shaver box filled with mementos from my childhood, bit and pieces of paper with things written on them...some dried flower petals...a pencil....a stone....a ribbon....and many more....all of which to another person might seem like a bit of junk....but every single item in that box holds countless memories

my gram's favorite necklace...in my jewlery box..it's multicolored...like my memories of her

my journal of the time i first met and dated my husband...cherish it always

I have a hope chest at the bottom of my bed...full of all sorts of memories....everyonce in awhile I will go through it and take a walk down memory lane...

raine

[azskyman]

Raine, Bill, and others...thanks for the tidbits. Reminiscing is something I've begun as a matter of course. My short term memory (did I eat supper tonight?) is failing, but my long term memory is pretty good. The momentos take me back....as I'm sure yours do too.