Should I keep stuff that makes me sad?

[starrychime]

Doing a clearout of loads and loads of old papers etc and came across a bag of old letters from school/uni days. Friends who moved away, old boyfriends, friends who went to different unis etc. Thing is I can't decide what do do with them. I really need to declutter the house and reading these just makes me sad as I had my whole life ahead of me then and ever really got where I wanted career/personal life wise. But when reading them I can visualise certain episodes described and am all nostalgic!
Letters are from friends telling about good degree results, jobs etc and just general banter. Letters from boyfriends I'd forgotten about and who I treated pretty badly sometimes. Diaries are the worst - musing about the Falklands war and where it would all lead (I am very old ), wondering where I'd be in the year 2000 etc. telling about a hard time I was having with a bully at school.

Will my DD want to read all this stuff when she's older - I don't have anything like that from my parents' day. And do I want her to know what I got up to when I finally escaped from home and went to uni
Should I just read and destroy?

I am extremely sentimental and kept lots of old letters, cards for 15 years. I never felt like I wanted to get rid of them. They sat at the back of y cupboard. One day I just felt ok binning them. So I read them all then dumped them. I didn't feel anything. I still have thiga I heny got to that stage with yet. If you're unsure, keep them for now. There will be a time when you feel ready to let go of them.

**still have things I haven't gotten to that stage with

No.

Bin it. It sounds very depressing.

Expat - no to read and destroy or no to keeping the stuff?
I do feel OK with binning - well shredding, don't want the recycling plant to have a good old laugh just wondered if I'll regret it or if DD will be interested when she grows up.

Shred the lot!

Believe me, you won't need the physical stuff to interest your DCs in your past. You have the memories and you can tell them everything (well the bits that won't seriously damage them. I have to 'edit' my escapades at uni when I talk to the DCs ).

i had stuff like this - i decided to throw it away, having kept it for years, as it just made me feel sad. have never regretted it.

Scan them?

Then you have the words, but not the clutter!

I think if they evoke a mixture of feelings, hang on to them. I has a similar horde of stuff. I read it all then destroyed it. I am not sorry about the diaries, but bitterly regret getting rid of the letters. Sometimes sad things are necessary to give a bit of perspective.

Hoard, is what I mean of course. Although it was a horde too ...

too early in the morning!

I had a massive clear out recently, shredded old love letters from DH (yes he was standing right next to me when I did it) mainly because some of them were a bit racy and it wasn't something I wanted my children to read if I died. They are my children, not my friends, I wouldn't choose to reveal certain information about my life with them.

We also shredded old blurred photos from before the age of digital technology when you just used to pray you got a good photo and then somehow end up keeping them no matter how bad they were.

I have kept some stuff, but I have kept them for me, not as something to be passed on or kept for generations.

My incredible, funny, amazing Mum died in 2010. She had started to fill in a book called From me to You, where they fill in information about the past. Sadly she died a mere 10 weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, she had no symptoms. Picked up on a routine mammogram.

I wish I had filmed her talking about the stuff I remember, when she found out she was pregnant with me, my birth story, her story of how she met my Dad, stuff from her childhood. I wouldn't want to read her diary though. Diaries are personal to the one who wrote it, not to be read by others.

I am under strict instructions that when my best friend dies I am to get rid of a certain box in her house with all her memorabilia in

I would say get rid of stuff that makes you sad, no point keeping it. Keep only stuff that makes you happy or laugh.

I am not really that sentimental. I hate clutter and I throw everything away. I would probably get rid of any letter ms that weren't family. But I'd keep diaries.

I have now taken to scanning/taking photos of stuff like this before shredding it. I was about to throw away the old letters that DH and sent each other before we were married when I thought of doing this. Very pleased I did. I now do the same with the artwork/school work DS brings home from school. It is a big task to begin with but I find it very liberating now - no more years of angst and lugging things around before finally binning them!

If they make you sad I would get rid of them. I think it's fair enough to keep them if you enjoy looking through them from time to time, but otherwise bin them. Your dd won't necessarily thank you either! My grandmother kept a lot of stuff like this and it was terribly hard for her children to decide what to do with them when she died - throwing it away seemed so callous but to keep it meant finding somewhere to store it all

If it makes you sad throw it out.