Saving 1: Boxes of Letters

I am not much of a pack rat. Usually I do a "Spring Cleaning" several times a year. I am not a fan of having useless miscellany pile up around the house. With that said, I do have on area where I refuse to downsize much at all. I have several boxes filled with items that I feel very attached to, but rarely use. I thought that I would take the time to go through these boxes and see what exactly is going on with them.


Today's example comes in three boxes filled with letters:

This first box is the one which receives any new letters which are of special value. Eric and I still write letters to each other from time to time. I put those into this box. I also put special letters from family and friends. I would say the box is about halfway full.
The box below is filled to the brim with letters, notes, anything on paper that I have deemed important since high school; letters from Eric, family and friends. When this box (and it's a big box) became full I had to start a new one, hence the first box I showed you.
Finally, below is the editing box. There was a while there where I saved every scrap of paper, don't ask me why. So, I had to meticulously go through all of the letters which was actually quite fun. Eric and I read through letters we had written to each other as 16 and 17 year old teenagers. We had a blast reflecting on how much and how little we have changed in the ensuing decade.

The editing box is filled with the last bit that still needs to be gone through and deemed worthy of saving or not. I also use it as something of a holding cell for incoming letters that may or may not make it into the bigger boxes for safe keeping. I weed out the riffraff so the boxes only end up with quality letters.

I don't know if this is stating the obvious, but writing is such an important part of my life. The letters I write or the letters that have been written to me are so important. When people take the time to share something of themselves I feel very obligated to save those gifts. Plus reading through them is hilarious, moving and always rewarding.