Tossing Out The "Important" Things?

A few months I discovered a pile of "important papers" that I'd saved for many years. I finally got around to sorting through these "important papers" last night and even more tonight and realized that what used to be important no longer seems to hold much value for me. I think it's quite coincidental that during this time of the year when so many are graduating from high school and college, such as Tabi and Sarah and Travis, that several of the important papers were old cards. These were cards that had accompanied graduation presents and/or had held money. As I opened each of the cards and read the signatures, I realized that many of them contained names of people I can't even remember. These were people who at one time were apparently very important in my life and now I can't even picture their faces! Is this due to old age or were these just people who happened to be a part of my life during this brief period? Don't get me wrong, there were cards from people who haven't been in my life for a long time, but are still important, i.e., my great Aunt Lillie who I loved immensely and who died many, many years ago. There was a card from my great Uncle Lorin and Aunt Mary on my dad's side of the family. Again, people whom I love and was always thrilled to have visit during my life. But, who were the Schillinger's, the Logsdon's, David, Renee and Scott? Then on the other hand, many of the cards brought back memories of living in Japan...there were cards from the Lenore and Roy McClelland's, the Bill and LaKay Holman's, the Gerald and Martha Corbett's, the Jack and LaDean Wecker's. And then there was the card from Dorothy and Marguerite Ford - the old lady spinsters who lived next door and were wonderful to our family especially while Dad was in Vietnam.

Then there were the old yearbooks collected since 1965. That was the first one I "just had to have" to collect all those really important names and sayings. You know the ones such as "Remember the M, remember the E, put them together and remember ME"! I was, and I quote from various yearbooks or annuals...keen, sweet, neat, far out, cute, a friend 4-ever, cool, hard-working, etc. Skimming through these books I realize I know no one from any of the six books I have. I'm also including the yearbook I received while attending Valdosta Tech. I never kept in touch with anyone since I changed schools, locations, states or countries most every year.

So, my question is: Are these cards and yearbooks important enough to hang on to? What purpose do they serve? Do they bring back real memories for me - good or bad? I can answer for the cards in one word - No. Unless cards that are 38 years old are valuable, the answer is no. They are small, don't take up much room and are easy to throw in the trashcan beside my desk. Will my grandchildren care that I threw them away? I doubt it. Then there are the yearbooks - bulky, sophisticated looking and filled with those dumb sayings. I think they too will suffer the same fate of the cards except for the one from Japan and the one from the technical college. Why? Well, the Japanese one is sentimental proof I was there - nothing more, nothing less. The technical college one proves to me I was a somebody during some tenure of schooling. During high school I was a nothing, a wallflower, an invisible person. I doubt anyone remembers me. In fact, I've never been contacted to return for a reunion and wouldn't go even if invited.

I moved to Valdosta during the summer just before my senior year. It was the first year of intergration and I had to take makeup classes in order to graduate by Georgia standards which caused me to take many non senior classes. I felt I was ugly, never dated the entire school year, never attended any school functions, including prom and wanted desperately for the school year to get over as quickly as possible. I cannot name one person in my entire senior class that I went to school with. That's one thing I've always been jealous about with Corey and his growing up. He went through school with basically the same group his entire life. Some of his friendships even began as early as when he was in daycare together. And, he still stays in touch with several of these people even after being graduated several years later. It was not until I went to Valdosta Tech that I finally started coming to understand my capabilities and began to blossom as a person. I'll write more about that on another blog.

So, back to the fate of the yearbooks. What's to become of them? I say can them, trash them, dump them!!! Sorry Mom and Dad for sacrificing your hard-earned money for something that I just couldn't live without and had to have. (Let's don't even bring up about my senior ring, okay)? Maybe I have no attachment to the yearbooks because I had no attachment to the school or the kids attending them?

Isn't it amazing that I can now sit back and see the cards and yearbooks from a different perspective? But then isn't that the way life is? Some things can be so desired, coveted and necessary today and we want it at all costs and then get it, use it, look at it for awhile and then it's time to move on to something else?

And, speaking about moving on, I shall...