“Just toss it!” is the rallying cry of these weeks. But some items we simply can’t bring ourselves to discard. 9 writers share
There were so many memories tied up in each pink stretchie, each frilly dress with its matching ruffled socks. I refused to believe these adorable outfits wouldn’t one day grace another little girl of mine, so I stubbornly held on to the crates of clothes as my youngest daughter passed birthday after birthday.
Finally, when she was 15, (yes, hope springs eternal) I realized that even if a new pampered Peritzman princess would appear on the scene, these clothes were hopelessly outdated and my daughters would never let me reuse them for any sister of theirs.
Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, donate them to a gemach, or even give them to a relative. Every so often I’d be attacked by the decluttering bug, open the plastic storage boxes and get lost in the past.
There were the pink dotted Swiss dresses my mother-in law a”h had splurged on. The girls had worn them to my sister’s engagement. There were velvet robes complete with hairbands and socks. And there was the set of fuzzy pink pussy cat pajamas, each one still miraculously whole with the padded feet intact. (The difference between boys and girls!) How many bedtime stories were told with those small cat-clad figures pressed against me? How could I say goodbye to all these dreams, past and future?
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