What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid of?

[Dee*Jay]

Kenny's thread got me thinking. There are a couple of things I simply, for whatever reason, cannot let go of.

One is a lace sundress that I got back in 1993. I wear it maybe once every few years (although I did wear it to the Friday night dinner in Vegas a few weeks ago). It is a lovely little thing, but utterly shapeless and I look like an overgrown five year old in it. In going back to the pictures, due to the shapelessness, I realize I actually look like a pregnant overgrown five year old. Not a look Vogue has featured in it's pages... well... EVER. The idea of getting rid of it though--NOPE.

Another thing (on a larger scale) is rugs. I have six oriental rugs in my storage locker right now. Rugs that I had to get the storage locker specifically to house. Rugs that could probably be replaced for less $ than I'm going to pay for that storage locker over the time they are in there. But there they are...

What about you? What's your *thing* (or *thingS*) that you just CAN'T get rid of?

 

[SB621]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

China (the plates not the country ). We got 10 settings for our wedding and I loved it. Now 6-7 years later still never used it and still boxed up in the basement. I should just return it and have a great store credit to Macys instead.

 

[Smith1942]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Nothing - I'm utterly ruthless in chucking away anything that I don't use or love. Partly this is because I've always chosen to live in relatively small apartments smack bang in the middle of expensive cities like Boston and London, instead of having the big house that the same money could buy an hour or two outside the city. Therefore I just don't have space for anything except things I use and love.

I have a theory that when a place is tidy and not stuffed with - well, stuff - it looks about 30% larger.

 

[TC1987]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

All kinds of things, lol. People toss good old stuff out in the trash everyday. I have been know to stop and load up things that my lazy suburbanite neighbors put out for garbage, and either resell it or rehome it with someone else. Sometimes I just tossed it in the truck and took it to the local thrift stores or Habitat's Restore and donated it. I rent a storage unit for my classic car, and the extra space in there is useful for storing my inventory.

 

[kenny]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I have a bunch of professional film camera equipment I bought in 1982.
It's worth pennies on the dollar today, so I keep it though I know I'll never use it.

Whaaaaa!

 

[kenny]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Can I say my SO?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

LOL Kenny, there IS a way. Just ask my DXH.

 

[kenny]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

LOL Kenny, there IS a way. Just ask my DXH.

I got a couple of them DXH

Actually, I'm just kidding.
My SO is wonderful, not as wonderful as I am, but wonderful enough to keep him around, I guess. HAHAHA! Ain't I a butthead?!?

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Dang it! You beat me to it Kenny!

 

[kenny]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Dang it! You beat me to it Kenny!

What?
Being a butthead?
... or daydreaming about trading in the old jalopy for a new one with lower mileage and more sexy features?

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Dang it! You beat me to it Kenny!

What?
Being a butthead?
... or daydreaming about trading in the old jalopy for a new one with lower mileage and more sexy features?

Ha! Both! I wanted to make the butthead remark! Hahaha

For me, it seems my partners keep getting older so I may trade mine in for setting with higher mileage haha

 

[NTave]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I still have my prom dress in my closet. Its beautiful, and it was fashion forward. I would wear it again, if my aged self fit in that tiny size again, its in line with todays styles, except its not one of those bright neon colors..and I'll never go to prom again! Ive also kept an old cheering uniform from college, my wedding gown from my first marriage, and my nursing uniform (with cap!) Besides a few (very few) cute baby clothes for my little ones, I mostly purge what I can.

 

[kenny]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I don't think we should get older.

 

[Circe]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Books. I collect insatiably, and sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach - I'm sure there are books in here I've owned for ten years and never read. And of the ones that I have read and REread on a regular basis, I'm sure loads are now digitally available. And yet, here I am surrounded by more then 4 tons of wood pulp.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

For me it's Tee Shirts....
I love to buy them wherever I've traveled- and it seems the older and rattier, the more attached I get...DW hates this, and has probably tossed more than I can remember, who counts?

And guitars, amplifiers and assorted musical accouterments
Hopefully she has not thrown any of those away- have you seen the price of 1972 Fender guitars and amplifiers?
But you can't open a closet in our house without seeing a guitar case

 

[LAJennifer]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Cat toys.

My cats are always acquiring new toys, but I can't bring myself to get rid of the old ones (unless they are so destroyed that they are no longer safe to play with). There are toys on every floor in every room of my house.

Electra has a beanie baby squirrel (named Nuts) that she got as a baby kitten 14 years ago. She still loves it to death! Every day, I find Nuts somewhere new. Once, I found Nuts in her food bowl - I couldn't figure out if she had "killed" him and he was now food, or if she was trying to "feed" her friend. I'm sure I will keep that squirrel forever.

 

[NOYFB]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Electra has a beanie baby squirrel (named Nuts) that she got as a baby kitten 14 years ago. She still loves it to death! Every day, I find Nuts somewhere new. Once, I found Nuts in her food bowl - I couldn't figure out if she had "killed" him and he was now food, or if she was trying to "feed" her friend. I'm sure I will keep that squirrel forever.

That's adorable!

 

[packrat]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

My dad's teddy bear from when he was little, Brownie. (a brown teddy bear..I SO did not get my mad naming skills from that side of the family). My Snoopy that my gramma gave me when I was born and I slept w/basically every night until I got married. My first CPK, Bret Michael. The carebear, Share Bear, that my brother gave me when I was in 5th grade. The collector plates I got from my gramma-all the blue and white Swedish Mors Dag ones that used to hang in their kitchen and porch, and the Wizard of Oz ones she gave me as a child, the Swedish cabinet gramma and grampa's family brought over from Sweden, the cutting board that hung in her kitchen that she wouldn't let me have until I could repeat the words in Swedish. The butt ugly chairs that grampa used to sit in--hideous, but comfortable-if we can't put a cover on them, I'll cut out a nice piece of the fabric and frame it at least I'll have that before we get rid of them. The Russian Czar-ess collector doll from Gramma that caused a family feud. Mom's handmade Heidi doll, the Mexican dancer doll and voodoo-ish looking dolls from Acapulco (sp), the boomerang she brought me from Australia. A painted coconut purse thing that my other grampa brought me from Hawaii that still has the little seashells in it. A few little trinkets my dad brought back from hunting trips when I was little. The Jem dolls my brother bought for me years ago. Books I read over and over as a child. (and fully admit to reading now and again as an adult just to have that kid feeling again) Some of the kids' clothes from when they were little.

I'm huge into childhood/nostalgia, as is my brother. Everything else is just...stuff.

 

[yennyfire]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

My dad's teddy bear from when he was little, Brownie. (a brown teddy bear..I SO did not get my mad naming skills from that side of the family). My Snoopy that my gramma gave me when I was born and I slept w/basically every night until I got married. My first CPK, Bret Michael. The carebear, Share Bear, that my brother gave me when I was in 5th grade. The collector plates I got from my gramma-all the blue and white Swedish Mors Dag ones that used to hang in their kitchen and porch, and the Wizard of Oz ones she gave me as a child, the Swedish cabinet gramma and grampa's family brought over from Sweden, the cutting board that hung in her kitchen that she wouldn't let me have until I could repeat the words in Swedish. The butt ugly chairs that grampa used to sit in--hideous, but comfortable-if we can't put a cover on them, I'll cut out a nice piece of the fabric and frame it at least I'll have that before we get rid of them. The Russian Czar-ess collector doll from Gramma that caused a family feud. Mom's handmade Heidi doll, the Mexican dancer doll and voodoo-ish looking dolls from Acapulco (sp), the boomerang she brought me from Australia. A painted coconut purse thing that my other grampa brought me from Hawaii that still has the little seashells in it. A few little trinkets my dad brought back from hunting trips when I was little. The Jem dolls my brother bought for me years ago. Books I read over and over as a child. (and fully admit to reading now and again as an adult just to have that kid feeling again) Some of the kids' clothes from when they were little.

I'm huge into childhood/nostalgia, as is my brother. Everything else is just...stuff.

Well, as least you come by your screen name honestly!!

 

[yennyfire]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I have stuffed animals from my Mom's childhood (owl and large dog), a patchwork hippo that my parents got me when I was about one, a set of three fabric dolls my grandmother made me, each in authentic costumes from France, Spain and Britain, my two bottom baby teeth (honestly not sure why I have them, but I can't bear to throw them out and now have the two teeth my son has lost too), a nightgown that my parents have me when I was 15 (it's flannel and so soft from years of wear...and yes, I still wear it in the winter!), my wedding dress, the outfits both kids wore home from the hospital and on their first birthday's...gosh, I could keep going. GULP. Someone call Hoarders: Buried Alive...or maybe I should just change my screen name to Packrat 2????

 

[ClassyRocks]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I have stuffed animals from my Mom's childhood (owl and large dog), a patchwork hippo that my parents got me when I was about one, a set of three fabric dolls my grandmother made me, each in authentic costumes from France, Spain and Britain, my two bottom baby teeth (honestly not sure why I have them, but I can't bear to throw them out and now have the two teeth my son has lost too), a nightgown that my parents have me when I was 15 (it's flannel and so soft from years of wear...and yes, I still wear it in the winter!), my wedding dress, the outfits both kids wore home from the hospital and on their first birthday's...gosh, I could keep going. GULP. Someone call Hoarders: Buried Alive...or maybe I should just change my screen name to Packrat 2????

This last sentence made me laugh out loud! My puppy dogs just looked at me like "who are you talking to?"!

I started a donation box today after reading this and Kenny's thread. I love shoes, but I have so many cute ones that there are wonderful pairs that need to go to someone else. I hate letting go of perfectly good/in-style items though. I also have a hard time letting go of art/paintings. I have a dozen or so in a closet. They are valuable, but I have not found the perfect place for them. I really should rotate them like museums do, but . . .

 

[JaneSmith]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I'm usually excellent at getting rid of old unused things, but am having an extraordinary bout of procrastination regarding donating my daughter's baby clothes. They are all nice and clean, folded in storage bins sorted by clothing size, ready to go. I know that once they are gone, I'll be a little sad and then happy that it is done; but I just haven't managed to get them to the women's shelter yet.

I don't love my wedding dress, but I'll probably always keep it.

I love my books, and will always have shelves full, however, I have culled a few volumes in the past when I realised I was harboring some awful crap.

I have a very small box of knicknacks from various trips when I was younger.

I wear my clothes to death, much to my husband's disgust. I just don't enjoy buying clothes (this is getting better). I don't wear the truly dilapidated items in public, and will bin things that become overly holey. I'm not sure if this counts.

Edit: Duh, jewellery. I never get rid of jewellery!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

I have wayyyy too much china and crystal and rarely use it. It is just major trouble to get rid of, though, because it should be sold and I don't have the energy to do it. I also am not sure which I'd part with!

I do still have my wedding dress and certainly saved a couple of baby outfits for each child. My daughter's baby was dedicated in the same dress she was baptized in, though, so I think things like that are kept to hand down. No one is going to wear my wedding dress, though!

I cleaned out my house in a major way when we moved 3 years ago, so I don't have too much to deal with at this point. I do try to go through my closet yearly and get rid of things I don't wear or that don't fit so that someone else can use them (I donate clothes).

 

[packrat]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

My dad's teddy bear from when he was little, Brownie. (a brown teddy bear..I SO did not get my mad naming skills from that side of the family). My Snoopy that my gramma gave me when I was born and I slept w/basically every night until I got married. My first CPK, Bret Michael. The carebear, Share Bear, that my brother gave me when I was in 5th grade. The collector plates I got from my gramma-all the blue and white Swedish Mors Dag ones that used to hang in their kitchen and porch, and the Wizard of Oz ones she gave me as a child, the Swedish cabinet gramma and grampa's family brought over from Sweden, the cutting board that hung in her kitchen that she wouldn't let me have until I could repeat the words in Swedish. The butt ugly chairs that grampa used to sit in--hideous, but comfortable-if we can't put a cover on them, I'll cut out a nice piece of the fabric and frame it at least I'll have that before we get rid of them. The Russian Czar-ess collector doll from Gramma that caused a family feud. Mom's handmade Heidi doll, the Mexican dancer doll and voodoo-ish looking dolls from Acapulco (sp), the boomerang she brought me from Australia. A painted coconut purse thing that my other grampa brought me from Hawaii that still has the little seashells in it. A few little trinkets my dad brought back from hunting trips when I was little. The Jem dolls my brother bought for me years ago. Books I read over and over as a child. (and fully admit to reading now and again as an adult just to have that kid feeling again) Some of the kids' clothes from when they were little.

I'm huge into childhood/nostalgia, as is my brother. Everything else is just...stuff.

Well, as least you come by your screen name honestly!!

hahahahaha actually the plates are up on the wall, the cabinet is in the living room, the chairs in the basement in front of the tv, books in the bookshelves, and the mementos are in a curio cabinet, as living room decor. Sounds like a lot but it's really not! We actually don't have a lot of "stuff" b/c I can't handle it. Lots of 'things" all over makes me feel like I'm chewing on tinfoil.

 

[yennyfire]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

My dad's teddy bear from when he was little, Brownie. (a brown teddy bear..I SO did not get my mad naming skills from that side of the family). My Snoopy that my gramma gave me when I was born and I slept w/basically every night until I got married. My first CPK, Bret Michael. The carebear, Share Bear, that my brother gave me when I was in 5th grade. The collector plates I got from my gramma-all the blue and white Swedish Mors Dag ones that used to hang in their kitchen and porch, and the Wizard of Oz ones she gave me as a child, the Swedish cabinet gramma and grampa's family brought over from Sweden, the cutting board that hung in her kitchen that she wouldn't let me have until I could repeat the words in Swedish. The butt ugly chairs that grampa used to sit in--hideous, but comfortable-if we can't put a cover on them, I'll cut out a nice piece of the fabric and frame it at least I'll have that before we get rid of them. The Russian Czar-ess collector doll from Gramma that caused a family feud. Mom's handmade Heidi doll, the Mexican dancer doll and voodoo-ish looking dolls from Acapulco (sp), the boomerang she brought me from Australia. A painted coconut purse thing that my other grampa brought me from Hawaii that still has the little seashells in it. A few little trinkets my dad brought back from hunting trips when I was little. The Jem dolls my brother bought for me years ago. Books I read over and over as a child. (and fully admit to reading now and again as an adult just to have that kid feeling again) Some of the kids' clothes from when they were little.

I'm huge into childhood/nostalgia, as is my brother. Everything else is just...stuff.

Well, as least you come by your screen name honestly!!

hahahahaha actually the plates are up on the wall, the cabinet is in the living room, the chairs in the basement in front of the tv, books in the bookshelves, and the mementos are in a curio cabinet, as living room decor. Sounds like a lot but it's really not! We actually don't have a lot of "stuff" b/c I can't handle it. Lots of 'things" all over makes me feel like I'm chewing on tinfoil.

I totally get where you're coming from. From what I wrote above, it sounds like I save a lot of stuff, but the reality is that I am pretty good at purging things we aren't using. Heck, my kids (at 6 and 8 ) know that whenever they get a new toy, they have to choose one to donate! That doesn't keep my daughter from keeping every paper kids menu she's come across or the packaging from every toy she's ever owned....I am confident that we WILL be seeing her on Hoarders at some point in the future!!

 

[packrat]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Yep, I do regular purges too. It feels GOOD, doesn't it? JD doesn't understand my giddiness when I have bags of stuff for Goodwill or the resale shop or even bunches of papers to toss out. He, however, grew up in a house that never threw *anything* away and really could have been a hoarders episode, so he has those tendencies in him--that house burned down when he was little and there was so much crap in it, it went up like a match. Being so young, it never dawned on him as much, until there was a house fire at Christmas this past year and he was the only officer on duty. Everyone was asleep and he couldn't get in b/c of all the crap inside. He did manage to get them out basically at the last second, but he's more open to my purging now that he's seen what can happen. Granted, those were two hoarding type situations, but still. I keep what is essential/necessary. If my brother had given me a care bear every year for 15 years, I wouldn't keep 15, I'd keep one. I don't keep all 57 "I can count to 100!" papers from Trapper, I kept like 3, one from the beginning, middle and end of the year to see how his numbers changed. And still, I look at my curio cabinet and think...hm...what is essential/necessary in there? Do I *need* 6 different shot glasses/beer mugs to remember our trip? I like empty spaces.

 

[zoebartlett]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Up until yesterday, I would have said a few teddy bears that I've been carting around with me since I was 6 or so. One of them was given to me by a friend who told me she was running away. She said she was taking a train to her grandmother's, I think. Well, obviously that never happened and I never gave the bear back, so I've held on to it for 33 years. I finally got rid of that bear and others when I cleaned out a few boxes in the garage.

We have a crocheted blanket that collects cat fur and I want to get rid of it so badly. Since it was a wedding gift and one from my MIL at that, it sits in the closet, taking up space.

Packrat and Yenny, I agree, it feels so good to get rid of things! I've been organizing our garage and now that that's pretty much done, I'm moving on to the kitchen and the closets next. I'm way less attached to stuff now that I'm older. I used to be horrible at throwing things away and now I look forward to it. It's very freeing!

 

[JaneSmith]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

Zoe, reading about your teddy bear reminded me of something.
I had a large, very well loved teddy bear from when I was a baby. A few others too. I donated them all when I was in my early twenties and feeling very grown up. Ha. I really wish I had kept them, or even just the big teddy for my daughter. She loves things that were once mine.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

It is my nature to frequently purge and not save, I don't overly attach sentiment to many things, but I can never bring myself to throw away cooking and kitchen supplies. I have tupperware from the 90's that sits unused. I may have convinced myself that they "don't make cookware like they used to" and that's why I'm holding onto it? I have no idea.

 

[rosetta]

Re: What are the things you simply can't let go and get rid

My wedding dresses (same wedding, four dresses!!)