When my mother gives me something second hand, I often feel compelled to keep whatever it is she gave me. It's not that I think she will be upset if I give whatever it is away, it's that the object is attached to a memory of her. I worry that if something happens to her all I will have are these objects to trigger my memories of her. So I've been thinking about this a lot lately and here is why I shouldn't be holding onto these things. My parents only have two children, myself and my sister, so in the event of their death, they have a house full of things that we grew up with, that hold much more valuable memories for us than the things she no longer needed and gave away to me. So when my parents pass away (hopefully a long time from now) my sister and I will have plenty of things to remember them by.
An example of this are these loving cups. My sister used to work on a cruise ship. One year my parents attended a cruise that she was working on and they collected these cups that were given away during dinner. My mother had no need for them so she decided she would give them to me. I thought they were great at the time, they were colourful and looked almost medieval. Over time the paint chipped and I stopped using them, yet I still held onto them because they were given to me by family. So I've taken this picture, wrote this post and now I will have them forever in virtual form. Somehow taking a picture helps me let go of the actual objects. Since I had stopped using them, all I was doing was looking at them anyway and this helps free up space in the cupboard for things I use. These we amongst the other items in my first bag donated in my quest to declutter my life. They are gone and out of my house forever.
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