I’ve been trying to clean out some old things. Yesterday, while doing some spring cleaning, I literally held a too-worn-out shirt, that I NEVER wear, from an ex’s friend who I don’t even talk to anymore and probably will never speak to ever again. I held that faded black cotten in my hands — and wondered if I should keep it. Reader, I did not. Objects cycle in and out of our lives, and often, we are choosing to let go of that old thing, and any memories attached to it. Then, what about the things we cling to no matter what? What about the things that we dutifully pack in boxes and ferry from apartment to apartment. What makes something a keepsake? What turns an object from a knicknack into something we know we are going to keep softly nestling into crumpled newspaper and cardboard and taking with us, wherever we may go, or which, if we don’t move around so much, will forever occupy a place on our shelf and in our hearts for the rest of our foreseeable years? Sometimes, these things aren’t even aesthetically appealing. Mine certainly isn’t. I never know where to put it. Still, I’m never going to get rid of it. Here, for you, A+ member, we attempt to answer what makes something so special that we, a human, will keep it, an object, by our side for as long as possible. I hope you’ll join in and answer the following question for yourself in the comments: what keepsake do you have, that you think you’ll keep forever, that no one else would ever truly understand?

xoxo,

Nicole

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