Early January is the time of year I'm in the habit of recycling stuff from the accordion folders that contain each year's accumulated paper backup for the IRS. I keep 6 full years back and empty the oldest, scratching out the year and using it for the new year. So for example, 2000, (the famous Y2K) got recycled and shredded and scratched out to become 2007.Some things got pulled out to be housed in the "permanent" file.This is a cube of file folders that hold literature and bills of sale for major appliances and such. Contracts for new car loans, original agreements for health club memberships. Interestingly, Y2K contained some investment contracts that were enormously inflated and which are not worth a tenth of that value now. C's famous 35K college fund that is now down to 2.5K. Not the first or last nest egg to break, but mine to cry over.
Also found some holiday cards from folks I no longer correspond with. And a couple handwritten notes from my Mom. So cool to see her handwriting and recognize it. I save those. Every once in a long while, I'll poke through boxes of old correspondence. It makes me wonder at the several different lives I've lived and people I've been close to. So far away from who I am today.
Y2K was a year of unhappy feelings between me and my ex. C was in the middle of all that. I stumbled across a long and agonizing Email exchange that I re-read with dread. Why would I keep such a painful memory? Keep it? File it? no...shred it. Shred it. And vow to never say anything negative again no matter how I feel.
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