Of Pack-Rat Tendencies

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I am a pack rat. I tend to keep things; my default setting is not to throw away. This might be useful, that strikes a tender chord in my heart ... it stays. This can be a bad thing, as the clutter requires (but does not always get) regular hacking down and weeding out to fit in the space available. Moving becomes both an opportunity and a major chore.

But it isn't always a bad thing. In clearing out my office space recently, I've found quite a lot to get rid of. Some things have gone in the trash, much in the recycling, quite a bit in the car to be donated. And some things I am keeping.

Today I went through a box that held letters, some that I had written and some that were written to me. From my parents while they were in China, from relatives over the years, from me at summer camp, at boarding school, at college. And some treasures in particular: some cards and letters sent when I was born, celebrating my birth. Six-cent stamps (and eight cents from Trinidad) and 1968 postmarks, from friends and relatives and colleagues of my parents.

"We were so happy to hear you got your girl", said one.
Another is from my great-grandmother, who died when I was five.
My aunt sent her card from Hawaii, where she was living at the time.
A friend sent a card even though, as she wrote on it, they would "see you this weekend".

These may not have calculable worth to anyone else, but to me, they earn the space they take. No question.