A popular — and therefore, commercialized — activity for vacationers is to buy souvenirs. Tourists hunt for trophies from their favorite destinations to lug home for their left-behind family, friends or dog. Sometimes these mementos are displayed in the traveler’s own home, because he or she wants to remember the getaway through this token.
Usually I don’t feel the need to buy a trinket from a tourist trap while I’m on vacation; I would rather snap pictures and spend the money on a unique experience. While I am less sentimental about my travels, I am very attached to anything that has to do with Dominic.
On a high shelf in the closet of our spare bedroom, I keep one or two shoe boxes with keepsakes from my time in the hospital with Dominic: molded hand and foot prints, hard copies of photos taken by the hospital social worker of which I have no digital copies, his original birth certificate, the hair band I used while I was in labor.
Since creating this stockpile 10 or so months ago, I have not opened the boxes to go through the contents. But if there was a fire in the house, the first place I would run is to that shelf to save my baby keepsakes.
Perhaps I am simply materialistic. Someone could certainly argue that saving my hair band is a bit excessive. Why accumulate things that must be hauled around? Why not just remember and let it be enough?
Items used during a momentous occasion hold a sort of magic. They carry snippets of moments which the mind has already lost, and only seeing, touching, smelling these keepsakes will conjure the memory.
When Dominic and I are together, I try to imprint certain moments in my mind: the way he looked at me as I dried him after my first time giving him a bath, how he held my finger as I fed him, every time he’s fallen asleep in my arms, the high-pitched sound he makes when hugging me, his curious, amused face as he fed me puffs and watched me chomp them between my teeth.
Since becoming Dominic’s mother — and then, his birthmother — I have given in to hoarding keepsakes. Blurry pictures of him now rarely even get trashed. Anything that has to do with him that I can keep is precious. I cannot have him, but I can have other things of his.
So I let myself accumulate “useless” things, items which serve no purpose but to sit on a shelf and be rescued in case of disaster. I do not want to let go of any more of him than I have to.
Do you consider yourself a “hoarder of keepsakes?” What types of keepsakes most speak to your sentimental side? Do you think having keepsakes is wasteful? Share your thoughts in the comment box below. Read our comment policy here.
I agree with both of your main statements on keepsakes. When I was younger, I saved EVERYTHING. I had a special area of my room that was just for these things I considered important and special. It wasn’t until I married my husband that I even thought about why I may need these things. Did I really need every movie ticket stub from every movie I’d ever seen? I realized that I didn’t and that the reason why I held onto some of these things was because I was trying to hold onto memories of things that were special or happened rarely…like going to the movies. My husband helped me to sort through the numerous boxes of things I thought I held close to my heart. What helped me to get rid of them was to realize that many of these things were not special at all but made me think of the times when I was happy or felt safe as a child. Most of my memories were of the opposite and that’s why I held these things in great regard. I’ve not missed one of them since I’ve purged myself of the physical memories. However, the few things I did keep – no matter how silly it seemed to anyone- I’m glad I did. And while I may not look at what I did keep or think of the things I threw out often, I know they’re there and that they existed and that is what matters to me.
Over the years I’ve kept and tossed many keepsakes. Some things you just can’t part with. Like your deceased mother’s scuffed, ratty wallet. Like your children’s Mothers Day gifts, hand made in elementary school. A portfolio of notes and cards from former students.
For awhile, when we traveled and made elaborate photo scrapbooks, I kept tickets, colorful programs and brochures, and small items that could enhance the finished project. Nowadays, we are into photo books made on Shutterfly so I don’t collect travel trinkets.
But, I do buy myself one nice memento from trips: a sweater from Greece, a blouse from Mexico, a muskox scarf from Alaska. Those are fun. xoA