Keepsakes

*Edit: My mom's fear that I would actually toss any of these photos made me realize I didn't make my conclusion clear enough so let me preface this post by saying that this is really kind of a reflection on minimalism, which is very popular right now, but I don't find anything particularly great about tossing things that have sentimental value just because they're not necessary. My photos and letters are technically worthless and I may be a packrat, but I'd never be able to part with them...and I don't want to. 

I am a little bit of a hoarder. Not like the sick kind, but like the I can't let go of sentimental stuff kind. I've been attempting to consolidate some of my old things into just one or two boxes for storage, but I've been struggling.

I thought I'd share a few things I've unearthed recently in my attempt to spring clean. I just can't seem to part with this stuff!

First, I have an ugly, beat up shoebox full of old photos and the like. I feel like most people have a box like this.

Old, goofy photos of me and my siblings; pictures from our old neighborhood in Ohio; love notes Matt sent me while we dealt with being long distance; a funny coaster from a bar in England; photos of my old pups; postcards of some of my favorite paintings from the Tate Gallery.

In that top-center photo, we are putting on a show for our parents. We used to choreograph dances and perform. We were very talented.

Of course, an old Rampage shoebox can't hold everything. I have a bad habit of collecting notebooks and photo albums.

Hm. It looks so neat and tidy for a bag of hoarder-stuff.

First, I have some of the first books I ever wrote. In elementary school we "published" books. You'd write a story in class, choose a binding fabric, and volunteers would sew them into little books. If yours got a gold seal, you were chosen to read it to the principal and you got a toy out of a prize bin.

There's also a copy of a play I co-wrote in 6th grade. It actually became a school performance. Pretty neat.

Besides old schoolwork, I've held on to some things that I'm just not sure how to get rid of.

My old karate medals.

A signed copy of a Sugar Ray album. I met them when I was 15; they were super nice.

A pack of feminist tarot cards because for awhile I thought maybe I'd become a witch.

My cap from undergrad graduation. All the AXOs decorated our caps with a lyre.

Of course, I also have albums full of photos I rarely look at. Here's a glimpse at the important memories I'm saving in my freshman scrapbook.

I was obsessed with recording names for "future children." Ironic, now that I'm child-free.

I do have some things worth keeping among the random piles, though. My bat mitzvah guest book and Hebrew name certificate are important keepsakes, but the certificate is illegible due to water damage.

I wonder if I can get this restored somehow...

Going through some of this stuff has me wondering, what's the point of keeping it past a certain time? I rarely go back and look through these letters and pictures, and most of the photos don't mean much to me anymore. But for some reason, I still can't let them go!

I mean...are we supposed to shred or recycle things like this? Or are we saddled with it forever? Will I look through them someday when I'm 80 and be glad I held onto them?

I can't help but think that yeah, I will. Maybe I'm just enabling my hoarding, but...better safe than sorry, right?

Do you have a hard time letting go of sentimental stuff?
Do you have any schoolwork from when you were a kid?
What do you do with old photos, etc?

ABK

Cleveland Bound!

My grandparents are the best. They met in the Navy, where Grandma was a nurse and Grandpa was a dentist; Grandma says she saw Grandpa on base and told a girlfriend, "I'm going to get that guy." And then she did.

Can you find my mom in these pictures? Hint: she's the one who looks like me! Bonus: Find my dad in the last picture.

Grandpa was our dentist growing up, and Grandma was his assistant. They lived about 30 minutes away from us and have been in the same apartment for as long as I can remember. My grandpa's favorite memory of me is that one night, I was having a sleepover at their house and they promised they'd drive me home if I got homesick.

That night, I puked in my bed and got it all in my hair. (I have no idea why this is my grandpa's favorite memory of me but he tells it literally every time I call.) Even though they gave me a bath, I still wanted to go home.

So they drove me home, and when we got there, I had fallen back asleep; the next morning, I woke up and had no idea why I wasn't at their house.

My grandparents had six kids, and my mom is special because she's the oldest. She was apparently a great big sister. When her brothers were little, she'd crawl into their cribs and give them their bottles before going to school - or so the story goes. Obviously, my grandparents have a lot of grandkids (and now some great-grandkids, too), but I know we're their favorites.

I'm pretty sure this center photo is the first time they met Matt.

My grandparents always send us really thoughtful gifts. When we got engaged, they sent me a silver ring-stand. They send flowers every year for Passover so we have a beautiful centerpiece for our seder.

When Matt's Nana passed, Grandma wrote him a card and sent a gift for his ceramics studio so he could make something in her memory. She somehow always remembers to send birthday and holiday cards on time, and even though my grandparents are Catholic (we used to celebrate Christmas at their house), they always remember to send cards on Jewish holidays, too.

Grandma is also the best cook ever. The last time we visited, she made her special lemon meringue pie, which has a meringue crust, lemon filling, and homemade whipped cream topping.

When I visit, we eat this for breakfast every day, and Matt is always horrified by it...but in a loving way!

Don't let that sweet side fool you; Grandma loves to have her fun. She's the one who taught me to play cards and she loves to gamble!

My grandma has been having some health issues of the past year; she and my family are all very practically-minded about aging, but it sucks. Of course it does.

This summer, I overheard my mom on the phone with my sister as they discussed plans to visit Cleveland. Apparently Mom's high school reunion is coming up and she still goes to these things, and Steph saw an opportunity to jump on board and visit my grandparents.

Of course I wanted in.

And then, of course, Matt wanted in.

So we're on our way to Cleveland this weekend to visit my grandparents! I can't wait. With the tropical storm out there in the Gulf, there's a chance we'll have a delayed or canceled flight. There are supposed to be tornados Friday night, too. So keep your fingers crossed for us, because if this trip falls through, I'm going to be very disappointed!

Tell me something about your grandparents!
When did you last travel "home"?

ABK

Throwback Thursday: Halloween!

These days, I'm not much of a Halloweener. I like carving pumpkins and I'd happily hand out candy, but our neighborhood isn't very busy on Halloween. Everyone goes to the big, gated communities and trick-or-treats where the king-sized candy is doled out.

Because I don't trick-or-treat anymore, I have no idea if those same warnings about tainted candy are out there, but this video makes a hilarious mockery of something we heard a lot as kids.

Anyway, I used to love Halloween, and not just for the leftover and half-priced candy the next day. I guess it's easy to love when it's a chance to dress up like this:

Anyone else remember those blocks from pre-school?

My favorite costume ever was this wizard robe. My mom used to make our costumes, and I think this is one of those. Steph and I used old Halloween costumes as dress up clothes, and I seem to remember wearing this purple getup pretty frequently.

I've mentioned before that my sister's clock costume was my favorite of hers, too. It's just so perfectly cute!

The wizard costume got a lot of good use, as Stephie wore it the following year.

Halloween in Ohio meant finding something warm and calling it a costume. This velvet blazer was a perfect witch's coat.

I remember my costumes being pretty intricate, but looking back I'm realizing I was always a do-it-yourselfer who threw things together and hoped they worked.

Honestly, I don't even know if this was Halloween or if Zach was just wearing a creepy mask and I was just playing dress up. Ah, the good old days.

Of course, in college I went through the usual risqué-Halloween phase. One of my all-time favorite photos is me dressed as a dominatrix whipping a sorority sister (dressed as a sexy vampire), but I don't think it's very blog appropriate. Still, I used that costume two years in a row.

Dominatrix and Flava Flav. Oh yes, college was...college.

Eventually, costumes became a thing of the past. I might put on some homemade devil's horns for a party, but Halloween more often finds me gutting pumpkins and cooking the seeds while Matt turns them into artwork.

Halloween with Jenn.

Calm down, 2009-Ali.

Such an artist.

The last time I dressed up, Matt and I went out with friends as Fiona and Michael Westen (from Burn Notice.) My costume was pretty lame, but his was perfect...complete with yogurt and everything.

Matt's had some pretty good costumes, himself. He really seems to become his character. Who else could pull off Gilligan this accurately?

This year, I think we'll opt for a quiet night in. I'll probably get a little bowl of candy and a bowl of non-food treats for the Teal Pumpkin kiddos, but chances are I'll end up with quite a lot of leftovers and a long run the next morning to sweat out all that sugar!

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?
What are you doing for Halloween this year?

ABK