The Momento Box?

237 Marbles

    The detritus from my relationship with Ex-man continues – today I tackled our momento box.  We had four boxes in our garage – one for each of the kids and one for “us”.  The kids’ boxes were filled with report cards, programs from school plays, bits of first haircuts.  “Our” box was filled with Mother’s and Father’s Day cards, tickets to events we’d gone to, photos, etc.  For months this box has been staring at me each time I parked the car - at times it has felt like a reminder of failure. Today I had the energy to do something about it. 
    More sorting, some things are obvious – mementos from Ex-man’s childhood go straight to him – but other things from our time shared together were a little more challenging to sift through.  Some of the items bring back sweet memories that I release to his pile. 
     I had labeled the boxes with large, decorative print with the names of each of the kids,  our box was labeled “Ex-man” & Lisa. It’s funny how, at the time,  I never thought that one day I’d be sorting through and separating the “his” from the “hers”.  I’ll give him back what is his and he can do with it what he chooses.  It’s not my job to be the keeper of the memories anymore.
    From where I stand, I’m not sure the purpose of mementos.  A memento is defined as an item that serves to remind one of a person, or past event.  It is synonymous with a keepsake or souvenir.  As a mother, I understand that I’m keeping a few things for my kids in case they ever want to connect to places where they’ve been and parts of themselves that they don’t remember.  I’m not sure that I grasp the importance of holding onto things from the past in a relationship.  It’s not from a place of cynicism.  Could it be I’ve outgrown memento boxes? 

Are there mementos you’re holding onto from your past relationship that it might be time to let go of?  Will letting go allow for more space in your life?  Could it be that holding on to mementos hinders you from living in the moment?