I’m still in the process of sorting through boxes of stuff that my family has saved over the years. Honestly, it’s tempting to just chuck it all in the trash. After scrutinizing the items, that’s where a lot of it is going anyway. Why not just skip the scrutiny? Because then I would miss out on some gems from the past like weird trading cards from the 1980s!
My dad was an avid card collector, cards for any sport really, he loved them all. Megan and I sifted through dozens of baseball, American football, European football, and basketball. In his later years, he stopped caring about perserving the cards. They were all just lumped together in a trash bag. The only reason we bothered sifting through was to see if there was anything valuable. There was not. The most valuable card was an UpperDeck Michael Jordan valued at $6. It was a nice experience though. It was like spending time with my dad again. And it was sad trashing all of his old cards. While they meant a lot to him, they are pretty meaningless to me. Had he kept them nice, I would have at least donated them to a card shop or an other collector.
I also found some of my old, ridiculous trading cards. I found some cards from popular movies, enscribed with words that were never even said in the film! I found some classic WWF wrestlers, and of course Garbage Pail Kids! Other than I set of GPK that I kept in plastic, they were all in rough shape. In the trash they go!
I also had to say goodbye to some of my nephew’s toys. Sesame Street characters with no arms, erroded wrestlers. Why bother saving them if we are going to take good care of them. Goodbye, Woody, thanks for providing Bo with much enjoyment over 20 years ago!
Sometimes we save things because it is difficult to say goodbye to the past. I understand that instinct very well, and tonight I had to make some hard decisions. I’m writing this blog post to ease the pain a little. I’ll leave you with this creepy picture of a doll with unknown origins. Good night!
