my closet

Yesterday I truly figured out what a sentimental old fool I am (you can insert pack rat here if you would like). I am currently in the process of cleaning out our old room and moving into our new room. Yesterday i was buried "knee deep" in my closet. I have a deep closet. It's not a walk-in but it is double deep so Jeff set it up so that the shelves wrap-around the closet. Gives me lots of extra space. Apparently too much space.

First thing I found was a few empty shoe boxes. Empty shoe boxes? Really? I am not even sure that I still have those pairs of shoes. Kinda sad really.

Next I found a few photo albums. This is really unnecessary as I have my own scrapbook room downstairs. Now the shelves are full but still. Two of the albums are from our extra wedding pictures, and the other is from when Keegan was born, he's 12 1/2! Oy!

But I digress.

Under all of these boxes I found a large-ish square box with umbrella wrapping paper covering the top. IT was definitely not empty. As a matter of fact it was full! Completely full. With cards. Cards that people have given me. Christmas cards, birthday cards, wedding cards (mind you our wedding will be 15 years in Sept.), baby announcements, wedding announcements, thank you from wedding presents, letters that Chris used to send when she lived in Spain, and in IN, Valentine's Day cards from Jeff and others. Some of it was over 10 years old! Many of them were from family and friends that aren't even married anymore. I went through them. Read so many of them. Then I actually headed to the recycle. But not with quite everything.

I found a small box. I kept some things. A note from my little sister when she was 9 or 10 and she is now 22. A note from my best friend saying thank you for being my best friend. A note from each of my grandmas and my nanny-mom Sue, who have all since passed on. The bulletin from my grandma's funeral. The placecard from my seat at our rehearsal dinner. These things I couldn't get rid of....

Many of them made me smile at forgotten memories and friends that I haven't heard from in a while. But mostly I realized that it's not the paper that really matters. It's the person who sent the paper and took the time to write the note. So I am going to remember that and try to send a few more of my own. Besides the post office could use the income!