Downsizing and Purging

When downsizing, many people struggle to let go of certain items because of emotional, sentimental, or practical attachments. Often, it’s not just the item’s function, but the memories, personal connections, and sense of identity tied to it that make downsizing difficult.

Have you thought about downsizing? Or, maybe you have already moved into a smaller home and have completed your purging of items.

When I chose to let go of everything I owned upon retiring, I still wanted to hold onto something both practical and sentimental. I narrowed it down to four items:

• My Christmas Ornaments. Over the years, I traveled to several foreign countries for pleasure and many U.S. states for business, often picking up ornaments as souvenirs. Each year, decorating the tree brings me joy as every ornament sparks memories of where it was bought and the experiences tied to it. Collected over 40 years, these ornaments represent a significant part of my history and are filled with cherished memories and emotions.
• My Degrees. I started college right after high school but wasn’t a very good student. I skipped classes and didn’t do my homework, resulting in a 1.6 GPA for my first semester. By the second semester, I was on probation and barely improved with a 2.4 GPA. After two years, I dropped out and attended business school to learn typing and become a secretary. I landed a great job and became friends with a co-worker who was moving to Colorado with a college classmate. I decided to join them and headed to Colorado, where I got another great job as a secretary and was happy for a while. Eventually, I wanted more, so I started taking evening college classes part-time, but progress was slow. After finding myself in a job I couldn’t stand, I quit and returned to school full-time at age 25, promising myself I would finish by the time I turned 30. It was a race against the clock, but I completed my last class for my Bachelor’s Degree just 20 days before my 30th birthday! Later, I even earned a Master’s Degree. These two degrees, along with my grade school, high school, and business school achievements, are incredibly important to me. While they may not mean much to others, they represent how hard I worked and persevered to accomplish something meaningful in my life.
• 1996 Olympic Materials. I was living in Atlanta when the 1996 Olympics came to town and volunteered with Delta Air Lines as part of the Meet and Greet Team at the airport. I still have the complete uniform—hat, shoes, and hip pack—along with a collection of pins and documents that I carefully boxed up at the time. These items are truly one of a kind. While I’m not sure what I’ll do with them, they hold special memories of that unique and unforgettable experience.
• Photos. When I was in my 20s, my mom had cancer. Despite going through treatment, she took the time to gather all the photos of me and my siblings from our childhood and organized them into separate photo albums for each of us. That Christmas, we received these albums as a completely unexpected and wonderful surprise. The effort my mom put into creating these, especially since she’s no longer with us, makes my album incredibly meaningful to me. In addition to this cherished gift, I’ve always been passionate about documenting my own travels. I meticulously put together photo albums, complete with index cards offering details about each upcoming set of pictures. Taking the photos and assembling the albums became something I loved doing. I often shared these albums with friends and family who were planning to visit places I had already explored, giving them a glimpse of my experiences.

I managed to part with everything else. Some items I gave away, others I donated, and whatever remained went to the junk collector. I also donated my car to the Veterans of America, as my goal was to reduce expenses while traveling to cities where I could rely on public transportation.

All I can say that when I retired in January, 2020, I had no idea that Covid would strike the world. It has upended some of my original plans, but I am not unhappy about what I did with my “assets.”

If you’ve already downsized or are preparing to, what items do you think are worth keeping? Could you share your thought process?