This weekend I began the process of purging my house of all the things I don’t need — starting with stuff in my room. I started with my closets, dumping the contents of each old purse and bag.

One by one, ticket stubs and other mementos started dropping out, until a pile of memories sat on the floor in front of me – some from more than a decade ago.

What made this treasure trove so surprising is that I have a drawer in which I toss my old tickets, racing bibs, etc. So these little gems were totally unexpected — and it was enough to bring me to tears.

Grateful, nostalgic, and even sad, I texted some of the pictures to my kids.
My older son’s response: ‘We’ve got plenty more memories to make!’

More tears.

Then I found the items below.

I realized then that our book isn’t finished, we’ve closed a chapter. And my son’s text reminded me that I simply need to turn the page.

This new chapter is looking a lot different already, but I’m looking forward to having more memories to toss in my drawer.