I was talking to a friend about how it’s okay to keep random mementos of someone.
For me, I still have this deflated piece of an old balloon animal from an ex or this empty pack of gum I used to share with a classmate in college. Y’know just these quiet reminders of the past.
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Yes. They’re memories unless I don’t like the person and there was a friendship falling out.
Depends. If it has bad energy, I’ll throw it away.
Yeah, I have a bunch of things.
I kept my letters from my penpal, including a recipe for fried bread he wrote down for me. We didn’t end on good terms, but I still wish him the best. I wish we didn’t have the fight we did, but he was becoming super self destructive.
I got a tattoo of a picture my friend drew and gave to me. We had a falling out, didn’t talk for a year, reconnected, and she’s since passed away. No regrets about what I’ve kept.
I have a stuffed toy from an ex I can’t seem to get myself to toss or donate. At this point I don’t know if it’s because it’s from my ex or if it’s because it’s a stuffed toy lamb with a soul, or because it’s been my companion for so many years since I’ve had her. Lots of sentimental value pulled from different places, I guess!
I had some art from a couple friends that turned out to be not so great friends. Regardless, I held on to them even though they were in the back of my closet rather than a wall. I had them for probably five years and then one day decided that they should be enjoyed by someone who doesn’t hang bad memories from them. They’re nice pieces – not enough to sell but I do hope they find good homes.
Yes, I keep a friendship day ring in my keychain which i had exchanged with my then bf about a decade ago. It’s a cheap metal ring but since it has a lot of sentimental value, I still keep it. 🙂
I have a modern art oil painting of a fox walking upright in snow at night, called The Sound of Walking Through Evening Snow. It reminds me of a dream my former friend once told me about, saying his house was surrounded by foxes walking on their hind legs and trying to get into the house. It was funny and scary at the same time.
His description of the dream was so strange and vivid that I never forgot it. When I found the painting I had to buy it, in memory of him.
No, I don’t like clutter. Unless it has deep sentimental value I don’t hold on to trinkets.
Yes, unless it’s from an ex or someone I’ve had bad experiences with. A close friend I’ve lost touch with gave me a plushie that I’ve kept years later. Everytime I see it, I remember her and the cherished memories we shared.
Yes I have a box of mementos, including things from people I don’t speak to anymore. Unless it feels like a negative thing to keep it. Memories are a part of who you are and how you’ve grown. I do find the modern trend of appearing to ‘delete’ past relationships and friendships completely to the extent we do these days a bit odd, but I guess a lot of those memories becoming digital makes that easier.
My memories contain things like cards, a love letter, table decs from events, ticket stubs, crafted items, coins, flowers I’ve pressed etc. it’s fun to go through and reminisce occasionally (including for people I’m not longer in touch with) but I’m the kind of reason that still prints photos and creates albums as I like physical media lol, but maybe I’m just more nostalgic or sentimental than most!
I keep a drawing of a sunflower from my ex. Sunflowers are my favorite flower. Drawing was his favorite pastime.
I have a shoebox somewhere filled with things from my teenager-exes and my first longterm relationship. Tbh, I think I would be fine throwing it out now. I don’t have such boxes for the two adult-exes.
A few decorative items. A former friend did some photography and framed a lovely landscape photo for us. It still hangs in my office. I also have a music box a guy gave me after our first date in high school. We only went out that one time because he seemed over-the-top obsessed, and I can’t even remember his name, but I still have the box on my dresser.
I do have a ”memory box” with gift cards, thank you notes, graduation/marriage/baby announcements, etc from friends and family. I figure I’ll appreciate looking at those one day when I’m elderly.
I have a box of memories. I keep them in a tote in the basement and probably look through them once every five years or so.
I have a few mementos from past relationships because I’m just the sentimental type. I rarely ever even look at them, but I like having small pieces which remind me of some good moments. I have sea shells from a vaction with my second boyfriend, a stuffed animal my high school sweetheart gave me, a few jewelery pieces from the same high school sweetheart, some letters from my last bf, stuff like that. They do not weigh on me and I do not look at them with sadness in my heart, just memories of happy times 🙂
sure I do and I don’t secretly still pine for these people etc like a critic might think. i just like mementos
I still have a few dick pics from my ex. My husband knows about them and is friends with him. I was 15 when I started dating him though and printed them on photo paper at home 😂 like wtf. For the record, he was 19 when we got together.
I have my mum’s hand knit cardigan and my dad’s scarf
I still have letters that my friends and I passed between classes in high school 30 years ago.
Two of those friends have died, but I can still “hear” their voices in their written words.
Depends. When my emotionally abusive ex was in classes to be a machinist he made me a Flyers coaster out of aluminum using the CNC machine. I got rid of most things he gave me but I like the coaster. At this point there’s zero sentimental attachment and it’s just a neat piece with my favorite hockey team’s logo.
I also have a livejournal shirt that a different ex gave me, I had been on LJ for forever when he was getting rid of it and I swiped it. I did like it initially because of both the livejournal part and the fact that it was his. These days I just like it for nostalgia, and it’s just a pajama shirt now.
I kept all of the art my ex girlfriend made for me/gave to me and her love letters (which are cute and/or covered in art). We’re still very close, just not romantic anymore, so there’s no bad blood.
Friend wise, yes I keep basically everything. I have several handmade cards from people I am no longer friends with. I still keep pictures, art, and little gifts.
I do, i cant part with them. except that my narc parents have thrown away most of the stuffs
I still have a couple of photos in my house with a friend that I no longer speak to. We didn’t have a big fight or anything, but things dramatically changed. This photo is such a good memory, from my 30th birthday. She gave me the frame that is in. Even though we aren’t friends anymore, I still have love in my heart for her, hope she’s doing well, and love that memory.
Yeah. If it feels good to look at
I love keeping mementos of people who were important to me at some point in my life. In college I had a friend with whom I’d go to the cinema with nearly every day. Some Saturdays we’d go three times day. I still have SO many of those cinema tickets in an old wallet, and I smile every time I see the like 8 times we went to see It Chapter One in cinemas lol. I don’t even speak to her anymore but I love those tickets.
Yes. I’m an extremely nostalgic person and I like mementos that tell my story.
I also do the same for my kids. I have a really hard time throwing away any of their art, important toys or clothes bc I know future me will miss this time period and I envision touching their artwork, toys or clothes as a way to connect to this life again.
There are mementos and there is hoarding. An old sweater or a letter, sure. A gum pack or piece of a balloon…not so sure you don’t have a different problem. I mean a person would have to have been very important to me and died at my side before I’d keep something like that, and the fact you have two sometimes like that makes me wonder what your living room looks like.
I’ve kept gifts but nothing sentimental that I can recall. The gifts are just objects that I use and have no emotional connection for me.
I still have a bracelet from a guy I used to talk to in high school lol. I kept it bc it was a nice quality bracelet for my teenage ass 🤣🤣 I probably have some things from college too, I just don’t even remember what I have at this point bc I don’t think about it lol
My husband had tshirts from exes when I met him, he used them as house clothes bc they were pretty worn out and old looking. I didn’t care and didn’t feel the need to ask him to get rid of anything 🤷♀️ he eventually got rid of the shirts bc they were old and he didn’t want them anymore
Hundreds of them
No
If I like it I keep it, if I don’t I don’t.
Only if it has good memories associated with it (even if things went sour later). I have a few knick knacks here and there that somoene has given me as a gift and I keep them because I like them. Although, I usually keep useful things (recipes, earrings, stuffed animal, game). I definitely don’t have pieces of, for lack of a better term, trash.
Depends on the item and the person. If it’s someone very close to me, I’ll keep the trinket, but sometimes I keep the trinkets or gifts from folks I had a falling out with and as long as there’s no bad energy I’ll keep the item if I like it.
For example, my ex fianceé gifted me many Pikachu plushies (I’m a collector) and they’re treasured parts of my collection, but she was a horrible person. They’re one of the few good things I got out of that relationship.
Trinkets, sure. Trash, definitely not. I would probably put things like a … piece of a deflated balloon? or an empty pack of gum??? into the latter category, and keeping trash for “sentimental reasons” is kind of low key hoarder behavior.
I have a strawberry pin that I thrifted and gifted the second matching one to my bf at the time. I’ve kept it but now it represents the love I have to give and how I’ll find someone deserving of that in the future
I used to because I’m really sentimental and I valued the thought of that present. But over time, I saw how people didn’t value me or the gifts I get them so nowadays, I am more balanced. I still cherish a lot of things people get me but other times, I don’t keep them (especially if we had a falling out or they don’t talk to me anymore —-this took me awhile to accept though. So if I get rid of it, it’s symbolic for me). Before I give it away, donate or trash it, I take a minute to honor it and what it symbolized to me at the time and then release it
Yes but it depends on the item – I wouldn’t keep trash which sorry to say a piece of an old balloon and empty gum pack are. Decor, art, jewelry, letters etc. I do hold onto. I don’t keep old cards, flowers, or other disposable items.
I threw anything I still had from old boyfriends away when I moved in with my now fiancé
Yeah. I even have somethings abusive exes gave me but I don’t like mentally associate the two together.