What to keep and move or throw it away….

Packing.

Seems like such a time sucker if you think about it.  Some things take me just a moment to pack.  Like clothes.  Dishes.  Dog toys.  Others…..well, then I get stuck.  For a while.  In memories.

When you open every box, every drawer and look through every item in your house to pack, you find yourself coming across items you haven't seen in years.  Your third grade classroom photo.  Oh yes, I'm sporting some pigtails.  And no….not putting that picture up on here.

You. Are. Welcome.

My great-grandfather's carnegie medal.  It was awarded to him April 15, 1904 for his heroism in saving a boy's life.  The back of the medal says this, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".  A little over 9,000 medals were ever given.  How cool is that.  And my great-grandfather was one of them.

Then there was my husband's grandfather's pocket watch.  Nobody ever carries these anymore.  I love it.  Classic.  Elegant.  And way cool.

Or a set of nesting dolls that my grandfather and grandmother gave to us after their many travels.  On the bottom of the dolls are stamped "Made in USSR".  Okay….I admit.  She is a little creepy.  But it was so cool to hear all their stories of their adventures when they came back.

Lost.

Lost in the memories.  Over and over again.  It's the notes of encouragement I saved after my father passed away.  His bible he always carried to church.  The college pictures.  Our wedding album.  The pictures of our first dog.  Letters my husband and I wrote to each other while away at college.  On and on it goes.

Packing.  Box after box.

I try to make a decision.  Quick….keep this and move it or throw it out.  Not everything can go.  But so many things.  Oh, so many things have wonderful memories.  Not to anyone else.  But to me and my husband.  

Goofy ones.  Ones that make me laugh out loud even to this day.  Ones that ground me to a moment that's hard to forget.  I can hear it now one day my kids will say….man, I'm not sure why Mom and Dad ever kept this old thing.

But one day.  One day.  They will understand.  They have to make their own memories.  Figure out what means the most to them.  Live their life.

And figure out what to keep and move or throw it away.