Keeping the memories, not the clutter...

I have a hard time letting things go. Things are memories, after all. How fun is it to go through an old box stuffed in the corner of the garage (attic or cellar) and rediscover people and places from times gone by? Pretty fun, at least to me.

Ironically, as much as I love things and the sweet memories they bring, I cannot stand clutter. I don't have a lot of knick knacks in my house. I get antsy and irritable when piles of things spring up here, there and everywhere. I'm not the most "organized" of lasses, mind you. I don't have a quaint little spot for every little thing, but I must keep the clutter at bay or my mind gets hazy and I begin to short-circuit.

Add my love of things and my intolerance of clutter together with a small house and you can see that I have a bit of a conundrum on my hands. So, I have learned how to purge, as painful as it may be. The hardest things to part with are the toys, clothes and other things that remind me of when my boys were little and the milestones they enjoyed. And then...it dawned on me. Why not just snap a picture and save the memory electronically instead of stuffed away in my garage!

Which brings me to the pictures below. Both Jack and Wyatt enjoyed romping around in their black cowboy boots. These were Jack's. He spent many hours pretending to be Captain Ahab, Jack Sparrow and assorted other heros in these boots. So darn cute. And Wyatt just loved his Converse sneakers. He felt (and looked) so cool riding his bike, playing football, and riding his scooter up and down in these big boy shoes. Two pairs of shoes, alot of memories, and feet that got too big. What to do? I wanted to stuff them in a box so I'd never forget. Instead, I took a picture and passed them along.

Digital memories; almost as good as the dusty box in the corner. Almost.