How sentimental are you!

I've kept greetings cards given to me by my children for years now. Apart from that, I'm not really sentimental.

So sorry grandMattie. ?

Germanshepherdsmum

Yes I have and it’s what I’m trying to do. I know a couple of people who say they can’t be bothered (the home of one is cluttered beyond belief) and are leaving it to be dealt with after they die. I think that’s unbelievably selfish.

I agree

I have become completely ruthless, only keeping a handful of things which are very precious to me.
Our sentimental son died suddenly recently and having to go through years of “stuff” in order to empty his house for sale has been very hard/horrible. I don’t want to put my remaining children through that!

I'm not sentimental at all. I threw out or gave away to my children most of the photographs I had. I don't keep letters from years ago. There are a few things that I got from my grandma but they're in every day use. My wedding dress was given away. I don't see the point as no-one else in my family would be interested.

Just after I started going out with my boyfriend , I went off to Spain to stay with my schoolfriend, who, as part of her languages degree was working as a modern languages assistant in a school in Seville.

A letter arrived at her flat for me, sent by him, saying how much he missed me. It had taken six months for him to ask me out, as he was so shy. I was totally shocked at how he had found the address and said how he felt, especially as he is not good at sharing his feelings.

DH doesn't know it, but I still have the letter, he sent me! ?

I am very sentimental and keep far too much. Every now and again I try to do the Swedish death thing but never end up with much in the carrier bag, none of it is valuable but what is saleable I take to the local cancer charity shop

Yes I have and it’s what I’m trying to do. I know a couple of people who say they can’t be bothered (the home of one is cluttered beyond belief) and are leaving it to be dealt with after they die. I think that’s unbelievably selfish.

Ever heard of Swedish Death Cleaning? If not Google it. I have quite a few bits ferreted away but like other posters I don’t want to inflict it all onto my children, so I am starting to get a bit ruthless, and to stop collecting more. I am hoping that some things will get passed down though.

I have just redecorated and did not to just put all my ornaments back as I’ve gone for a more minimal look. So I chose my favourite ones and have put the rest into a storage box in my garage so I can swap them every now and again. At least, that is the plan!

I don't expect anyone to sift through my stuff.
They can take what might sell, (possibly one ring) and bung the rest in a skip.

GSM I would rather make things easier for him when I die and the thought that I’m easing his burden eases my mind

Absolutely agree. Couldn’t bear for my sons to have to sift through a lot of “stuff” .
Can’t bear Knick knacks anyway !

MissAdventure

Not really.
I have a few bits and bobs, but I do generally end up throwing them after a while.
I have one of my mums lovely white hankies, though.

I have my father’s white scarf he wore with his dinner jacket. He was a very stylish dresser and I loved to see him dressed for a dinner dance.

I'm not overly sentimental, but I would never get rid of just one little ornament my mum got me about 35 years ago (she's been gone 26yrs). It's a cat sitting on a chair. Nothing posh or of value, but I love it and know that she picked that out because she knew I'd like it.

Not sentimental at all. I've kept some things relating to the children and grandchildren but that's all. As I've got older I have become more ruthless and given things away or boxed them up for the family. I've stopped going to Brocantes and markets here so I don't buy any more knick knacks.

I'm not sentimental about stuff,my mother left her rings to me .I gave the engagement and eternity rings to two neices she had never met and her wedding ring to my sister.I'm dreading clearing out my MIL's house as my SIL is a hoarder and it will be a battle to take anything to a charity shop or to offer it to anyone else.sil still has things in her mothers house that she left there when she got married 35 years ago and she doean't want them touched ....until she says so.
She thinks we should wait at least 6 months before we clear the house!
I cant agree to that ,it would be hanging over me like a dark cloud.If Something needs done I do it and dont have it weighing me down .Wish me luck.

I’m sentimental but am becoming ruthless about what I keep as I get older because I don’t want to inflict further pain on my son, my only child, who will have to deal with my things when I go. As an only child myself I know only too well the difficulty of deciding what to keep when clearing a parent’s home. I had a large loft and kept too much because I couldn’t bear to get rid of a lot. I had to process it all eventually when downsizing. So I now have only a few ‘heirlooms’ which would fit well in his home, and little knickknacks he bought me over the years which have great sentimental value to me but he won’t have difficulty parting with. Inherited jewellery such as wedding and engagement rings that I couldn’t bear to sell I have passed on to charities who can convert it to cash. Otherwise it’s just my few bits of jewellery, and modern furniture, kitchen stuff and books which hold no sentimental or other value which a house clearance firm can dispose of. Nothing else. Nothing to sort through. I used to keep cards but no longer. I have a box full of his childhood drawings which will go in the incinerator before long along with some of his baby clothes which, if he and his wife have children, I’m sure they wouldn’t want. I will tell him at the time what I‘ve done so that he knows these things were precious to me. Pointless having boxes of stuff in the loft just for the sake of it and leave someone else to grieve over it. I would rather make things easier for him when I die and the thought that I’m easing his burden eases my mind.

Not really.
I have a few bits and bobs, but I do generally end up throwing them after a while.
I have one of my mums lovely white hankies, though.

Not sentimental hardly at all, I don’t have any nik naks, dusting! People I care for know me, so don’t give them to me.
I don’t keep cards or letters, their sentiments are in my heart, along with kind and meaningful actions, equally as precious.
I do however have a few tree decorations the children made when small, now put away for another year.

My mother is very sentimental and has kept all sorts of things - but I recently found out that she has lots of things just because she has forgotten they are there! She didn't even know what some of the things we found were or where they came from! I'm not very sentimental. There are a few things that I have that remind me of places and people but in general I don't keep knick-knacks or letters. We did digitise all our photos and loaded them onto one of those displays where the photo changes every few minutes. Most of the time we ignore it but every now and again one of us will spot a photo and talk over old times and people.

I am very sentimental. I have kept al sorts of things that are 'special' to me. I would not part with them for any amount of money. I actually mean that.

I have what I suppose would be called a messy drawer, nothing in it has any sentimental value, it's just a drawer I do not use that needs clearing out.

I do wonder that when I die and someone is clearing out my stuff they will think the things in the drawer were important to me and keep hold of them.

I am not sentimental about stuff at all, I think if too much value is put on things and they get lost or broken it would be devastating.

My mother had kept the receipts for my nappies and still had them 50 years later when she died!

I had no idea my father was so sentimental He kept an empty cigarette packet and a piece of charcoal. This was from 1949 when my parents were courting, they went on a hillside and lit a fire for a camp stove with the charcoal, and he smoked the cigarettes. He and my mother parted ways in 1955 but yet he kept them and still had them when he died 50 years later!

I'm not really all that nostalgic as I don't have lots of nick nacks etc but I am about things re:my children, grand children and husband. I've made memory boxes to put things in. I still have my youngest ones first shoes, his baby nighty with elastic at the bottom (if you remember them) and his receiving blanket made by my now ex Mil. I have kept my husbands love letters on the cloud as they were by email, him being in Belgium and me in the UK.