A Box of stuff

I have a box of stuff. It is sentimentally valuable to me.  I don't even need to describe it here as it would be unimportant to most,  except my family.  It has very little actual value. It occured to me that if someone found it after I was long gone, they would wonder what it is, and why I kept it, and not know this sentimental attachment it had to me.

Most people have a similar box of memorablia or junk that they like to sift through from time to time. It will also get tossed after they are gone, along with the stories that were attached. We keep this stuff because it reminds us of some specific time or event in our lives. If it is important to us now, so it may also be important to someone in your family.

Certainly we have seen all television coverage of the aftermath of a hurricaine or twister, and you see people, on the news clips, sifting through a pile of rubble that was once their house. On camera they say, "we lost everything.!" The house, furniture and clothing can all be replaced if they had insurance, that's not the 'everything', to which they refer. What upsets them the most is losing all of their 'stuff.' All of the pictures and treasures from a lifetime. These things are not listed or covered by insurance. They cannot be easily described or explained, to another without holding the item and vebalizing it's significance.

You might have some family heirlooms that were passed on to you: Aunt Franny's china, grandmother's silver, dad's straw skimmer. If you saw some of it at a second hand store, you wouldn't give it a second thought. But, knowing where it came from and that it has a past, makes these things valuable to us all.

So, I have another life suggestion for you. I recommend that you go through this stuff again, soon. If you think it will have value to a family member, then tell them all about it and give it, or leave it to them in your will. That item will have new significance and a new life. If it is very special, it will also be passed on to their family with the same story.
If you have other items that have no value to others, but are special to you because they remind you of a story, or event or time in your life, then write down that story before it goes to the grave with you. Once on paper, you could share each story with someone, or just accumulate them so that when you are gone, the stories will be found with your 'stuff.' They won't be left wondering why you have this box of junk. You will have told them, in your own words. I bet they keep some of your stuff themselves. It may even become part of their 'box of stuff."