Keepsakes and Momentos that you save? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Janice · 07-28-2006, 02:46 PM

For any reason. You may have a lost love or someone may have passed away. Or you treasure an item because you love the person. A baby's first tooth, your mother's china....things you know you'll save for the rest of your life.

I have scrapbooks full of pictures, concert and movie stubs, letters....from old boyfriends.

My late mother loved angels and butterflies. Displayed in my home, is her beautiful Lenox crystal angel. I also keep her angel and butterfly pins, many of which I bought her myself.

My late father. I saved one of his many caps. I keep it hanging on my coat rack. I also have one of his beer steins.

My late sister gave me a lovely Hummel statue for Christmas, just one month before she died. It's of two little girls hugging.

My other late sister gave me a little porcelain music box, that plays the tune, Moon River. I've always loved that song...danced to it with my husband on our wedding day. My sister special-ordered the music box, to have that song programmed.

Foxy, my sweet feline of almost 17 years. I saved his most wornout toy, a yellow mouse. It's put away in a baggie. Sometimes, I take it out, just to feel it, to smell it.

TJL · 07-28-2006, 03:21 PM

I too have a box full of pictures, cards and letters from old girlfriends.
I call it the box of bad ideas.

I have a bunch of souveniers from my various trips, especially from my High School trip to Russia.

A lot of my momentos I keep at my parents house. Since my parents are moving at the end of August, I will have to go and sort through my stuff.

PZelda · 07-28-2006, 04:35 PM

Yeah, I do that. I have shoeboxes under my bed for every year from 7th to 12th grade, and they're all labeled "__th grade memories," and I go through them every once in a while to reminisce.

I kept a dry cleaning bill that was on one of my clothes hangers from years ago. It's from right before I was born- it's dated August 6, 1985, and I came along on August 16, 1985. My mom took three things to be dry cleaned for less than $15. THAT was expensive dry-cleaning for '85.

Whenever I go on a major trip to somewhere new, I like to set aside a bag with mementos from that trip. I have a bag I set aside from when I went to London two and a half years ago. I went to NYC in March, and I have a shoebox set aside with things from NYC. My flight tickets, freebie bottles of lotion and mouthwash from The Roosevelt Hotel, free magazines targeted exclusively for the New York area, things like that...I was in NYC for a convention for school, so I have convention stuff in that box too. I have this really neat The New York Times Rubik Cube the people from The New York Times were giving away.

I actually don't keep as many mementos as I used to.

Ireneparalegal · 07-28-2006, 04:41 PM

When my father passed away I kept some of his tools from his business. It is in a tool box of his.
I also kept his briefcase that he had for over 45 years. He used it for his businesses...had his bookwork in there, his notes, misc. business stuff. It is made of leather and it is very well worn and tattered, but it is special to me.

I have a pic here above my computer of my dad holding his last grandchild (my son) when my son was only one month old. This pic was taken on Xmas afternoon when my father came over for Xmas dinner. I cherish this pic because my father is staring into my son's face. God, I wanna cry just typing this.

I have a large pic of my late nephew. It is also here above my computer. It is the last pic ever taken of my nephew. It was taken two weeks before he died of injuries in a car crash in 1985. He was only 12 years old.

I have a prayer card of St. Jude from my late ex-husband that he gave me a year ago. I was having personal issues and he gave me that card. It was blessed by a priest and he wanted me to have it. I keep that in my dash of my vehicle.

I have two scrapbooks of my girls' schoolwork, papers, essays, pics and misc. stuff.

I have kept some clothing of my son's from when he was a newborn. I want him to see how small he was and what he wore.

I buy postcards from whatever state or city I visit and keep as momentos.

I also pick up random, but beautiful rocks from whatever beach I visit or any locale. When my daughters went to Arizona, they brought me one very large rock and a smaller rock. I keep them in my garden along with rocks that I got from Mount St. Helens in Washington, rocks from Carmel, California.
I also have volcanic ash from Mt. St. Helens.

I also request rocks from family when they travel.

Hollow · 07-28-2006, 05:46 PM

i have a bag of things i couldn't replace.... my baby blanket, a page my mom wrote shortly before she died about why she loves me, photos of loved ones, belongings of people i was close to who died, a lot of stuff.

Kazza · 07-28-2006, 05:47 PM

I have my baby blanket. Looks like my parents didn't keep anything for me.
I've kept many of my girls things; their first outfits, the baby teeth that have fallen out my 8yr old, I made sort of a time capsule for them to open when they get older.

AllIWantIsYourClutch · 07-28-2006, 06:10 PM

I save everything and it eventually came in handy because I'm doing a lot of scrapbooking lately. I save concert tickets, wristbands, programs, playbills...everything. I have the ribbon from my prom flowers on my prom page of my scrapbook. I'm really glad I was a packrat because I like to look at all of my stuff.

Oh and I, too, have my baby blanket, which I sleep with every night. My mom has saved all my report cards and useless school stuff.

Number 9 Dream · 07-28-2006, 07:37 PM

Yep, I have a whole box of letters from friends...I think the earliest one dates from 1995 and the latest probably from 2001. There's tons of notes in there from our days in high school when we were bored. It's nice to go through them sometimes and reminisce over things I may have forgotten (little inside jokes and stuff) or cry over the past. I don't think I'll ever throw them out. Most of them are from friends I've since grown apart from, so these letters help keep the memories alive.

I also have some scrapbooks with various pictures from childhood to college, as well as other little mementos. I know there's a playbill from when I went on my junior trip to Washington D.C., as well as ticket stubs from 8th grade chorus concerts I was a part of. I keep all my Beatlefest pictures too, as well as the admission wristbands and even a Chinese food menu from the food we ordered

It just reminds me of the good times I've had there.

In another little tin case I keep all my movie ticket stubs. Some of them are even from 1996. I just love having them.

And last but certainly not least, I keep a teddy bear that my late Nana gave to me when I was sick in the hospital in 9th grade. It's a cute bear (only one eye, though

) dressed in a Christmas sweater...I absolutely adore it and will never part with it. She died from cancer two years after giving it to me, so this is a reminder of the love I had for her.

Brad Russ · 07-28-2006, 08:27 PM

I keep all my old birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, etc. (I have every card you ever sent me Janice up on display now.

)

I also save every movie stub, airline tickets, and anything that marks some sort of achievement Iv'e made in my life. I have the bus ticket from the first bus I rode in ten years. I also have the first pack of trail mix I ever received on an airplane.

I know there's other things I'm forgetting, but that's what I can think of right now.

Brad Russ · 07-28-2006, 08:48 PM

Oh yeah, I also still have the toothbrush I was given when I was put in the mental hospital 10 years ago, along with a picture of a horse that a girl there who had a crush on me drew for me.

Karen* · 07-29-2006, 03:58 AM

I keep Valentine/Christmas/birthday/greeting cards, letters, ticket stubs, newspapers with important and/or interesting headlines and a bunch of other trivial, but meaningful things. I stash em in my file cabinet. I keep em in old shoeboxes. I've also made special boxes for each year in my high school career. They contain things such as prom invitations, programs from plays and productions, class schedules, planners and event calendars...just a whole bunch of things that will remind me of those years. I made one to keep souvenirs from my vacations as well.

swedeace · 07-29-2006, 10:14 AM

I like to save all my birthday cards and other holiday cards I have received. I have only begun saving them since the mid-90s. I wish I had the other ones from years before, but a storage shed disposed of them. pissed: I also save postcards I have received from around the world from internet friends since the mid-90s.

I saved my high school graduation stuff (yearbook, diploma, tassle, a keepsake memory book, etc).

And...most importantly....photos!! I am such a photo pack rat. I hardly have any photos of me while I was a baby, child, and a teenager, so now I like to take tons of photos of me, vacations, people I know, etc... Most are digital photos, but I still keep physical photos in a huge photo box.

tdf4077 · 07-29-2006, 10:44 AM

TJL---you'll appreciate this: I have every episode of MASH on tape (even though I now own most of them on DVD as well lol)...

I'm a bit of a pack rat, so I save a lot...I have all my wedding cards, TONS of pictures (but I don't have the patience to scrapbook or make albums, so they all sit in a box).

All my yearbooks.

Old calandars (I like the pictures)

Old magazines...but not like "National Geographics"...these are like clothing and merchandise ones!

I have all my old certificates (including many from gradeschool)

A rock collection from when I was like 10!

And the best, all my old homework assignments and notes from high school and college....the kids laugh, but as a teacher, I've used these resources many times!

Courtnee · 07-29-2006, 07:22 PM

I don't have a lot of things like that, most of the time, I'll save something that someone special gave to me and then the person rejects me. So I end up throwing it away. I don't have any of my baby things, my mother gave them all away. Old pictures are always hidden, so I never see them. I really don't want to relive my past anyways.

rusyd · 07-29-2006, 07:28 PM

I still have my yearbooks from highschool. I had an old sweater of my late father's but it finally got so bad I had to throw it away. I have old pics of my mother,father, and other family members and this may sound strange but I keep funeral/mass cards of people I have known.

07-28-2006, 02:46 PM	#1
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	Keepsakes and Momentos that you save? For any reason. You may have a lost love or someone may have passed away. Or you treasure an item because you love the person. A baby's first tooth, your mother's china....things you know you'll save for the rest of your life. I have scrapbooks full of pictures, concert and movie stubs, letters....from old boyfriends. My late mother loved angels and butterflies. Displayed in my home, is her beautiful Lenox crystal angel. I also keep her angel and butterfly pins, many of which I bought her myself. My late father. I saved one of his many caps. I keep it hanging on my coat rack. I also have one of his beer steins. My late sister gave me a lovely Hummel statue for Christmas, just one month before she died. It's of two little girls hugging. My other late sister gave me a little porcelain music box, that plays the tune, Moon River. I've always loved that song...danced to it with my husband on our wedding day. My sister special-ordered the music box, to have that song programmed. Foxy, my sweet feline of almost 17 years. I saved his most wornout toy, a yellow mouse. It's put away in a baggie. Sometimes, I take it out, just to feel it, to smell it.

07-28-2006, 03:21 PM	#2
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	I too have a box full of pictures, cards and letters from old girlfriends. I call it the box of bad ideas. I have a bunch of souveniers from my various trips, especially from my High School trip to Russia. A lot of my momentos I keep at my parents house. Since my parents are moving at the end of August, I will have to go and sort through my stuff.
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

07-28-2006, 04:41 PM	#4
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	When my father passed away I kept some of his tools from his business. It is in a tool box of his. I also kept his briefcase that he had for over 45 years. He used it for his businesses...had his bookwork in there, his notes, misc. business stuff. It is made of leather and it is very well worn and tattered, but it is special to me. I have a pic here above my computer of my dad holding his last grandchild (my son) when my son was only one month old. This pic was taken on Xmas afternoon when my father came over for Xmas dinner. I cherish this pic because my father is staring into my son's face. God, I wanna cry just typing this. I have a large pic of my late nephew. It is also here above my computer. It is the last pic ever taken of my nephew. It was taken two weeks before he died of injuries in a car crash in 1985. He was only 12 years old. I have a prayer card of St. Jude from my late ex-husband that he gave me a year ago. I was having personal issues and he gave me that card. It was blessed by a priest and he wanted me to have it. I keep that in my dash of my vehicle. I have two scrapbooks of my girls' schoolwork, papers, essays, pics and misc. stuff. I have kept some clothing of my son's from when he was a newborn. I want him to see how small he was and what he wore. I buy postcards from whatever state or city I visit and keep as momentos. I also pick up random, but beautiful rocks from whatever beach I visit or any locale. When my daughters went to Arizona, they brought me one very large rock and a smaller rock. I keep them in my garden along with rocks that I got from Mount St. Helens in Washington, rocks from Carmel, California. I also have volcanic ash from Mt. St. Helens. I also request rocks from family when they travel.
	__________________ DALLAS COWBOYS ARE HERE AT TRAINING CAMP!!!

07-28-2006, 07:37 PM	#8
Number 9 Dream That '70s Girl Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2005 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 5,875	Yep, I have a whole box of letters from friends...I think the earliest one dates from 1995 and the latest probably from 2001. There's tons of notes in there from our days in high school when we were bored. It's nice to go through them sometimes and reminisce over things I may have forgotten (little inside jokes and stuff) or cry over the past. I don't think I'll ever throw them out. Most of them are from friends I've since grown apart from, so these letters help keep the memories alive. I also have some scrapbooks with various pictures from childhood to college, as well as other little mementos. I know there's a playbill from when I went on my junior trip to Washington D.C., as well as ticket stubs from 8th grade chorus concerts I was a part of. I keep all my Beatlefest pictures too, as well as the admission wristbands and even a Chinese food menu from the food we ordered It just reminds me of the good times I've had there. In another little tin case I keep all my movie ticket stubs. Some of them are even from 1996. I just love having them. And last but certainly not least, I keep a teddy bear that my late Nana gave to me when I was sick in the hospital in 9th grade. It's a cute bear (only one eye, though ) dressed in a Christmas sweater...I absolutely adore it and will never part with it. She died from cancer two years after giving it to me, so this is a reminder of the love I had for her.
	__________________ Live a little be a gypsy get around http://www.librarything.com/profile/skelterhelter http://retrogirl82.dvdaf.com/owned formerly Retrogirl82

07-28-2006, 08:27 PM	#9
Brad Russ Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 17, 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 10,085	I keep all my old birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, etc. (I have every card you ever sent me Janice up on display now.) I also save every movie stub, airline tickets, and anything that marks some sort of achievement Iv'e made in my life. I have the bus ticket from the first bus I rode in ten years. I also have the first pack of trail mix I ever received on an airplane. I know there's other things I'm forgetting, but that's what I can think of right now.
	__________________ St. John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Currently my favorite song.

07-28-2006, 04:35 PM	#3
PZelda Two Valeries! <3 Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 15, 2002 Location: I'm STILL missing NYC. :( Posts: 78,223	Yeah, I do that. I have shoeboxes under my bed for every year from 7th to 12th grade, and they're all labeled "__th grade memories," and I go through them every once in a while to reminisce. I kept a dry cleaning bill that was on one of my clothes hangers from years ago. It's from right before I was born- it's dated August 6, 1985, and I came along on August 16, 1985. My mom took three things to be dry cleaned for less than $15. THAT was expensive dry-cleaning for '85. Whenever I go on a major trip to somewhere new, I like to set aside a bag with mementos from that trip. I have a bag I set aside from when I went to London two and a half years ago. I went to NYC in March, and I have a shoebox set aside with things from NYC. My flight tickets, freebie bottles of lotion and mouthwash from The Roosevelt Hotel, free magazines targeted exclusively for the New York area, things like that...I was in NYC for a convention for school, so I have convention stuff in that box too. I have this really neat The New York Times Rubik Cube the people from The New York Times were giving away. I actually don't keep as many mementos as I used to.

07-28-2006, 05:46 PM	#5
Hollow Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 16, 2001 Posts: 30,406	i have a bag of things i couldn't replace.... my baby blanket, a page my mom wrote shortly before she died about why she loves me, photos of loved ones, belongings of people i was close to who died, a lot of stuff.

07-28-2006, 05:47 PM	#6
Kazza Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 17, 2003 Posts: 3,244	I have my baby blanket. Looks like my parents didn't keep anything for me. I've kept many of my girls things; their first outfits, the baby teeth that have fallen out my 8yr old, I made sort of a time capsule for them to open when they get older.

07-28-2006, 06:10 PM	#7
AllIWantIsYourClutch peaceout. Forum Icon Join Date: Aug 02, 2001 Location: Illinois. Posts: 53,424	I save everything and it eventually came in handy because I'm doing a lot of scrapbooking lately. I save concert tickets, wristbands, programs, playbills...everything. I have the ribbon from my prom flowers on my prom page of my scrapbook. I'm really glad I was a packrat because I like to look at all of my stuff. Oh and I, too, have my baby blanket, which I sleep with every night. My mom has saved all my report cards and useless school stuff.

07-28-2006, 08:48 PM	#10
Brad Russ Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Feb 17, 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 10,085	Oh yeah, I also still have the toothbrush I was given when I was put in the mental hospital 10 years ago, along with a picture of a horse that a girl there who had a crush on me drew for me.

07-29-2006, 03:58 AM	#11
Karen* paradox. Forum Superstar Join Date: Jan 08, 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 28,365	I keep Valentine/Christmas/birthday/greeting cards, letters, ticket stubs, newspapers with important and/or interesting headlines and a bunch of other trivial, but meaningful things. I stash em in my file cabinet. I keep em in old shoeboxes. I've also made special boxes for each year in my high school career. They contain things such as prom invitations, programs from plays and productions, class schedules, planners and event calendars...just a whole bunch of things that will remind me of those years. I made one to keep souvenirs from my vacations as well.
	__________________ karen on \| twitter \| tumblr

07-29-2006, 10:14 AM	#12
swedeace Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 22, 2003 Posts: 9,009	I like to save all my birthday cards and other holiday cards I have received. I have only begun saving them since the mid-90s. I wish I had the other ones from years before, but a storage shed disposed of them. pissed: I also save postcards I have received from around the world from internet friends since the mid-90s. I saved my high school graduation stuff (yearbook, diploma, tassle, a keepsake memory book, etc). And...most importantly....photos!! I am such a photo pack rat. I hardly have any photos of me while I was a baby, child, and a teenager, so now I like to take tons of photos of me, vacations, people I know, etc... Most are digital photos, but I still keep physical photos in a huge photo box.

07-29-2006, 10:44 AM	#13
tdf4077 JaJa Senior Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,678	TJL---you'll appreciate this: I have every episode of MASH on tape (even though I now own most of them on DVD as well lol)... I'm a bit of a pack rat, so I save a lot...I have all my wedding cards, TONS of pictures (but I don't have the patience to scrapbook or make albums, so they all sit in a box). All my yearbooks. Old calandars (I like the pictures) Old magazines...but not like "National Geographics"...these are like clothing and merchandise ones! I have all my old certificates (including many from gradeschool) A rock collection from when I was like 10! And the best, all my old homework assignments and notes from high school and college....the kids laugh, but as a teacher, I've used these resources many times!

07-29-2006, 07:22 PM	#14
Courtnee MAN VS SAMMICH. Forum Star Join Date: Mar 23, 2005 Location: Louisiana Posts: 16,413	I don't have a lot of things like that, most of the time, I'll save something that someone special gave to me and then the person rejects me. So I end up throwing it away. I don't have any of my baby things, my mother gave them all away. Old pictures are always hidden, so I never see them. I really don't want to relive my past anyways.
	__________________ Whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection A freckle on the nose of life's complexion The Cinderella or the shine apple of its eye I gotta fly once, I gotta try once, Only can die once, right, sir? Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see, I gotta have my bite, sir. Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer" I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer Don't bring around the cloud to rain on my parade

07-29-2006, 07:28 PM	#15
rusyd Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 13,505	I still have my yearbooks from highschool. I had an old sweater of my late father's but it finally got so bad I had to throw it away. I have old pics of my mother,father, and other family members and this may sound strange but I keep funeral/mass cards of people I have known.