Monday, May 7, 2018

If It's Broken, Keep It

Do you ever keep old, broken items? I do keep some and I'd love to tell y'all it all depends on the item and whether or not it can be repaired but that's not necessarily true. I do not keep broken items for parts or to hope that, one day, it can be repaired or just to say I have it or because I'm too lazy to toss it. That drives me insane. But I have been known to keep broken items for no other than sentimental reasons...


  • but it was Grandmother's
  • but it reminds me of when I was a kid
  • it belonged to insert-daughter's-name-here
  • I used that when insert-special-event-here
  • insert-loved-ones-name-here brought me that back from  insert-pace-here
Yeah, I will keep things broken or not purely for reasons like those. I am a sentimental fool. 


I have kept Christmas ornaments that have fallen off the tree and broken just enough that I can apply a dab of super glue to put it back together but I've also kept ornaments for which I lost the broken piece because it belonged to my grandmother or one of the lovelies or reminded me of an ornament from my childhood. But I want credit for not keeping any that fall and shatter beyond repair. Ha! Seriously, I want credit for that. 

I'll also take some credit for not keeping broken glasses or cups because who drinks from broken glasses or cups? The thing that causes me to SMH is I might have repaired some enough to place it on a shelf and use as a reminder of some sentimental event or loved one. And as a dust catcher. 

Somehow one of the girl's Christening gowns never made it to a preservation box and it is looking rough to say the least. Have a tossed it? Nope. There is no way I can toss that thing. If nothing else, the quilter sister can use it for my next quilt. #ahem. 

Do I toss the basket full of toys Tucker never plays with because he's a one toy dog? Nope. I think about donating them and then I think about how I might need to look at them one day when my pup crosses the bridge which is ridiculous but that's how my mind works or fails me, whichever. 

Have I tossed or donated toys the grandkiddos have outgrown? Nope.
Are there broken toys or toys with missing pieces in there? Yep.

I really do not like clutter and I have a small house so keeping broken items around isn't the best idea but I do it anyway.

I promise I am not a hoarder I'm a keeper of sentiment. It took me nearly 30 years to purge the attic but most of that stuff is GONE! There isn't stuff everywhere around here and everything has a place and mostly stays in it's place unless Bug and/or Baby R have been over but that's a grandkid/grandparent thing which means it doesn't count. #amiright? 

And then there's this:

I Will Keep Broken Things

I will keep
Broken
Things:
The big clay
Pot
With raised
Iguanas
Chasing
Their
Tails; 
Two
Of their
Wise

Heads
Sheared
Off; 

I will keep
Broken
things:
The old
Slave
Market
Basket
Brought
To my
Door

By Mississippi
A jagged
Hole
Gouged
In its sturdy
Dark
Oak
Side.

I will keep
Broken
things:
The memory
Of
Those
Long
Delicious
Night
Swims
With
You; 

I will keep
Broken
things:
In my house
There
Remains
An

Honored
Shelf
On which
I will
Keep
Broken
Things.

Their beauty
Is
They
Need
Not
Ever
Be 
'fixed.'

I will keep
Your
Wild
Free
Laughter
Though
It is now
Missing
Its
Reassuring
And
Graceful
Hinge.

I will keep
Broken
Things:

Thank you 
So much! 

I will keep
Broken
Things.

I will keep
You:

Pilgrim
Of
Sorrow.

I will keep
Myself. 

Alice Walker 



How many of Y'all keep broken things?



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13 comments:

  1. Well, I'm not a keeper of broken things, but we do have a basket full of cat toys that they don't play with. Now I need to clean it out!! LOL The things they do play with get torn apart (shredded) and have to be tossed. I am somewhat sentimental in that I want family things to go to the next generation IF one of them cares enough to protect and see that it keeps getting passed along... (but I won't be here, so all I can do is my best).

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    Replies
    1. Ha! I hope it doesn't take you as long as it's taking me to do that to Tucker's basket. :) YES! Exactly! Claudia is the one in our family who will take care and make sure things continue getting passed down. She's like me on that one.

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  2. I'm not a keeper of broken things but I certainly have cabinets/closets that need to be cleaned out!!

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    Replies
    1. Please don't mention cabinets and closets. LOL

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  3. You get credit for picking up the shattered pieces.
    I do have lots of "parts" but there have been numerous times when I found a part that fixed something later on. But yes sentimental reasons are part of my decision process. One of the silliest/oddest is an one t-shirt I wore in officer training too long ago to remember. We are happy that we saved old toys for the grandkids to play with. They ask us to pull out many of the toys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sentiment will get us every time. I pulled out all the American Girl and Bitty Baby stuff and Marcy is having a BALL with them! I have some other toys, too but I've got to get up in the attic and it's HOT around here.

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  4. I here you on this....I'm not a hoarder either but there are definitely items that we have to keep for sentimental reasons!

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  5. Me! I keep all those things, too, and one of our pups crossed the bridge just before Christmas...his collar with all his tags hangs on a peg with another from the dog before him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am a sentimental fool as well and have kept broken items for the same reasons, I think often women are more likely to be sentimental fools then men are or at least the men I know.

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  7. Beautiful. But not me. I thow stuff out too quickly and now that I have a grandchild I am sorry I did. I do not like to hold on to stuff that clutters the house. I'm not very sentimental that way. But sometimes it would be nice to have some of it for Elia. Now husband...he's totally different and keeps E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. (that's why he has his own shed...)

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  8. "A keeper of sentiment". I like that description! I'm going to keep that in mind the next time I'm poised to keep something I perhaps shouldn't. Is it sentimental? Then I'll keep it. Is it something that I think maybe some day I might be able to repurpose MacGyver -style? Pitch!!!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It makes me feel connected to everyone even though we may live far apart! Have a wonderful day!

 
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