Things you can't let go

[fred_mouse]

Sometimes, it is the strangest things I can't bring myself to let go of. Today, it is a pharmacy bottle which used to contain witchhazel. It dates back maybe 25 years, and was bought while it was still common for pharmacists to dispense that kind of thing, rather than selling a pre-packaged option. I don't use witchhazel often, and so it has languished in the cupboard. I've now used up the last little bit of the contents, and have failed three times to put the bottle in the bin. Nothing rational, just an affection for the shape of the bottle and the history that it represents. Instead, I've washed it, and I'm going to add it to a display. I'll just have to find something else to rehome instead.

To reassure myself that this isn't weird, I'd love people to tell about something that they keep for no good reason that they can articulate.

Comments

[clare_dragonfly]

Well, this is more about bottles than no good reason, but I actively (well, haven't added any new ones in a while) collect glass bottles. I have a cabinet to display them and my smaller collection of glass pumpkins. They're just beautiful!

[st_aurafina]

I have a collection in the pharmacy at work - it's become a collaborative effort as customers bring in their unearthed treasures from home. All sorts of old pharmaceuticals, and the occasional beautiful bottle. (Cobalt glass is amazing.)

[adafrog]

Cool.
I have a drawer full of t-shirts I keep purely for sentimental reasons.

[adafrog]

That sounds very interesting.

[kalloway]

I have my old 'demo tapes' from broadcast school even though they're fifteen years old, I never want to hear them again, and they're on mini-disc, which I can't even play. I have no intention of ever thinking about broadcasting again.

I have absolutely no reason to keep them, but they're tucked on a shelf with other old media stuff and some small electronic accessories and whatnot.

[rmc28]

I have a drawer of "sentimental clothes" - not just tshirts, but other clothing, all of which I'm unlikely to wear again, but I don't want to be rid of. Yes, it takes up space, but there is more than enough other, less meaningful, clutter in my house to tackle first. At least this drawer is organised and purposeful.

[yukonsally]

I have two jackets a dear friend gave me before she passed on. Her daughter, who is just a few years younger than me, didn't want the jackets. I love the style and the color of them and never have an occasion to wear them. Despite the fact that I have other gifts from this friend that are used more often, and that I know she wouldn't mind if I passed the jackets on, they hang in my closet.

[yukonsally]

I have a large bin full of shirts from my past. Once now, and I'm working on another, I've decided to let one shirt go (and I don't regret it). Who else would want my old Troop shirts anyway.

[redsixwing]

That doesn't sound weird to me. Sounds like a pleasant thing that you've had for a substantial length of time.

[adafrog]

Exactly. As long as they're not causing trouble, why not?

[fred_mouse]

I have a couple of truly old bottles, but this one didn't feel quite that old. I guess in 100 years it will be, and it takes my 'couple of bottles' over the line into 'collection'...

[fred_mouse]

That is very neat!

[fred_mouse]

I can sympathise with that. I have a box of t-shirts that are going to be a blanket one of these years, if I ever get to it (although at the moment, I must admit that I'm contemplating cutting them in to strips and making a shag pile rug out of them).

[fred_mouse]

That is very cool! And the idea of being able to look at them, and know what they are, must be much faster than getting them out and listening to them, even if you did have a player.

[fred_mouse]

It is and it isn't weird. Because on the one hand, it is a glass bottle, and I get rid of a lot of jars/bottles across the average year (we buy tomato puree and assorted pickles in jars), so why not this one. And on the other hand, it represents a change that has occurred in my life time that lots of people probably haven't noticed, and is the only one I've got. And on the gripping hand, we need to get rid of 1/3 to 1/2 of our stuff to be able to get rid of some of the storage furniture and bring some of the rooms back to not looking cluttered.

[fred_mouse]

I can understand this. I was very excited to find a jacket I thought I'd given away in the sewing basket, even though I've worn it once since I bought it and have probably only missed it once since it was put in the basket (it is pumpkin orange).

[fred_mouse]

I don't have a collection of such shirts, but partner does. At this point, I have no idea where they are - probably in a sealed container in the roof crawl space, where I don't have to care about them!