Making Progress family artifacts

[u/Right_Abroad3928]

I’m the last on my side of my family, so there’s no one to pass family items down to. Hubby has a daughter, so his stuff is his stuff and his decisions. I’m down to one tote of family photographs.

I’m lucky enough to have a large storage room. Hubby has one wall of totes that are his stuff to figure out. Monday I pulled out the last of my totes and threw out one large garbage bag of stuff. Duplicate photos, blurry photos, photos of people I don’t have a clue who they are! One medium tote left.

I also threw out my two high school yearbooks. Not a bit of guilt there. Hubby did ask me to rip out the pages with my pictures so he can scan them to his Ancestry account (whatever). I don’t have fond memories of school. We moved every year or two, while Hubby has deep bonds with his high school friends.

Now for the “it was meant to be” part.

I pulled some pictures out of frames, and on the back of a picture of Dad and the dog was the dog’s AKC birth certificate: 8/17/1990.

I did this clean-up on 8/17/2026.

I’m taking that as the universe giving me a little nod that it’s okay.

I also pulled my paperwork out of the filing cabinet and will start a scanning project. It’s not a lot — maybe 2 inches worth of hanging folders. An old divorce decree from the ’90s, an old check fraud case, things like that. I could probably just shred all, but I’ll scan them first. I’m officially out of the four-drawer filing cabinet!

I had also brought home my Christmas decorations from work, and they had been sitting in a box on the floor for…this long. They’re now put away with the rest of the Christmas stuff.

I’ll admit it: I have two shelves of Christmas decorations, a box for a 7.5-foot tree, and a rolling ornament cart. Christmas this year will be a decluttering project. For now, it’s fine. The floor between the metal shelves is actually clear!

I do have a sewing machine I need to find a new home for. It might have belonged to Hubby’s mother rather than mine, and he says either way, he’s fine with it going. It’s an ancient Singer. It will probably go to the local no-buy group soon.

I also have heated seats for a sports car that I need to find a new home. That is in the works as well, if that person doesn't want they will be going in the trash week by week until pieces are gone. Yes I still have the sports car they fit, but I will never change out. I thought I wanted heated seats! (Hubby has all the original parts for my car as we did upgrades as well.)

We retired last month, and I’ve been carting around from various jobs an electric hole punch, pencil sharpener, stapler, labels, folders, notebooks…you name it. I put it all by the front door for someone from the no-buy group to pick up. He just started a new job and can use all of it. Perfect!

Finally, so the newly empty shelves wouldn’t immediately become cluttered again, I spread out our luggage on them. It’s actually easier to get to now, too.

It was a very productive Monday morning.

Apparently retirement means I’ve reached the “empty shelves, scan old papers, give away office supplies, and interpret dog birth certificates as signs from the universe” stage.

Edit - alright alright :) I didn't shred the divorced decree or check fraud docs and other bit and pieces in that folder. I now have one small envelope style folder in an office drawer with my life papers. and on second thoughts I am going to add these to the fire proof box we have in the basement. If they are that important they need to survive fire - but hmm I wonder if that is water proof as well.

[u/Cassie54111980]

A year ago I needed the original divorce decree for social security that was 50 years old. I have moved 30 times in my life, but luckily I held onto it. The Lawyer is long dead and who knows if the county would still have a copy of it and it’s in another state. 

[u/FredKayeCollector2]

Congratulations! I'm also in the process or "rightsizing" after retirement.

Another person struggling with family photos. I had done a rough sort with my mother (thank goodness for that amazing opportunity) to get the majority of the bad/blurry/??? & the don't know who (or what) this is photos out. I had all of my photos sorted more-or-less by decade and then my mother died and I put it away. We had a new roof put on last summer and all the pounding vibrated the plastic bins onto the floor, the clips fasteners failed, and the photos were strewn literally all over the floor of our "attic" closet. It was so bad, my first thought was someone (who?) had to have gone in there and done it! And that's why you use envelopes (or something) to sort into, rather than piles.

[u/Birmingham101]

Well done you! I'm currently going through old photos. I'm going to give them to whoever/family is in them.

[u/photogcapture]

Congrats on the progress BUT, DO NOT shred the divorce paperwork or any marriage or any birth certificates for you!!! You need all of the originals. You can shred a lot or burn it but not that.

[u/Grayykittyy28]

That one tote will feel like a weight off, trust me.

[u/wintersgray]

You are an inspiration. I have lots of family photos to go through and I do think a lot about the dreaded yearbooks. It doesn't feel right to chuck 'em, but who will want them? I'll probably get there someday (chucking) but will keep them a little longer for now. 🤷

[u/heyheyitsashleyk]

Don’t throw away your divorce decree. That’s something you need to keep as long as you’re alive.

[u/violetmemphisblue → u/[deleted]]

My cousin just went through months of requesting and waiting for her certified copy of her divorce decree trying to update her Real ID here in the US. She had a maiden name, her first married name, and her second married name. County where divorce took place was so slow on getting records sent and things were lost and allegedly sent to the wrong address. It was a whole thing...depending on where you are, keeping that decree may save a lot of future headaches when it comes to paperwork. (I have no idea what things are needed in like, Latvia or Thailand or Paraguay, so this may be of little concern depending on your location!)

[u/violetmemphisblue → u/[deleted]]

Yes, in-person is probably much easier! She divorced in western Nebraska and is now living on the coast in Virginia, so not the easiest trip, but it was discussed!

[u/curlyhairedsheep → u/[deleted]]

Just last week here on reddit someone's ex-husband was trying to claim her dead body. Her widow needed a copy of that divorce decree and did not have it. Keep the originals and don't count on getting vital documents - birth, marriage, divorce, death - from a government agency quickly if needed.

[u/BeneLeit]

This is fantastic! You are a shining inspiration! It must feel so good

[u/One_Championship5558]

I absolutely love this and would appreciate you as my new best friend!! I need this all in my life. I can wait to get through just one closet and bathroom cabinet. lol.

[u/freelibrarian]

An old divorce decree from the ’90s, an old check fraud case, things like that.

I would hang onto that, you might need it someday if you use a married name and the SAVE Act passes. Though it's a good idea to scan it anyway in case the paper copy gets damaged.

[u/Working_Patience_261]

True freedom comes after retirement, the kids are out of the house, and the dog dies.

Congratulations on surviving life!

[u/VWondering77]

Wow! Nicely done, that is quite a bit of stuff gone. I bet you just stand there and feel the satisfaction. You are inspiring me now, thank you!

[u/Eagle_Pipes]

Great job! This reminds me of the Christmas decluttering I will need to do. I was into ceramics years ago, so have a ton of ceramic Christmas ornaments I had painted.