View Full Version : Just burned my 40 year old Hippe jean jacket........
(Of course I meant Hippie).
This is a day that will live in infamy...... hahaha I'm still having a little panic about it. But I've had this jean jacket (like a farmer would wear) for about 40 years. It was falling apart. Its been in a box for probably 30 of those years. It doesn't even begin to fit me any more. But I've GOT to let some of these things go. Yes, it gave me alot of warm fuzzies when I looked at it, but at what cost? .........room and board for all those years. So.....after I get over this panic attack, I think I'll burn some more things! :+1:
That's the type of thing I would never burn. But more power to you.
Oh god bunnys.............that didn't help my separation anxiety AT ALL! :~)
rosarugosa
8-28-12, 7:31pm
Well I would have burned it for sure - good for you Cathy! I used to have an old wool army jacket DH wore as a teen, and when it was time for it to go, I cut a small piece of the cloth and saved it. Took up a lot less space than the whole jacket.
ah, you released it into the world where it will be happy. Good for you.
Thanks rosarugosa,
In retrospect, I wish I had saved a small piece of it. I didn't even think of that. I did take pictures of it, and have a couple pics of me in it 40 years ago. Well, tonight I dug through the ashes out in the trash burner and got 2 of the metal buttons.
I know I'll be fine in a couple days. I've just been battling with stuff for so long........DH's stuff (he's a bit of a hoarder), the kids stuff (I always saved everything of there's), and my stuff. I've probably given away 100 bags of stuff, and recycled tons of stuff. This jacket has been in the closet for years and years. I got it out occasionally and thought "Ahhhhh...." and put it back in. I just have to plow through all this sentimentality I have in order to feel like I'm not suffocating. I might need a xanax later, thinking about my jacket........but I'm sure my anxiety will eventually subside. I hope.
Thanks again rosa.
LOL Iris! That's a good thought. Thanks!
Oh, sorry!
Hey, it's done now so don't listen to me. Move on down the road. And it's only a piece of clothing.
Don't worry about it bunnys! I'm just in a fragile state for a few days. Its very silly and neurotic of me.
Blackdog Lin
8-28-12, 9:15pm
CathyA: good job. Decluttering old memories of what we used to be, but aren't any more, is hard.....but necessary?
I have a very old authentic "navy surplus" pea coat, that I wore in high school in the 70's, sitting in the coat closet. I also wore it for a few years in the 80's, outgrew it in the 90's, my son wore it for 3 years or so in that decade, I lost the weight and wore it 2 times in the oughts.....and the coat still lives on in the coat closet today. It needs to go but jeesh.....they just don't make them like that anymore!
I understand your angst.
That song by CSNY, "Almost Cut My Hair" is going through my head.
You will be OK. Congratulations on being able to part with some old stuff. It is a struggle for me and my partner.
[QUOTE=CathyA;98351]Thanks rosarugosa,
In retrospect, I wish I had saved a small piece of it. I didn't even think of that. I did take pictures of it, and have a couple pics of me in it 40 years ago.
...
Oh...I am proud you didn't even keep a small piece of it! Good for you girl....you are moving forward!
Thanks everyone! I keep hoping it will get easier, but it really doesn't.......oh, maybe a little. I really do try to power through the emotional part of parting with things. I guess what I've learned is to expect this panic afterwards, and that it does subside.........then I'm on to the next traumatic separation.
I wonder where this angst comes from? Does it have to do with loss in childhood? Is it genetic? I can remember when I was little, if something broke, I would keep it so it wouldn't feel lonely. I'm sure there's some psychological reason for it. Understanding it doesn't help much though..........I just have to force myself to do it.
Thanks again for all your support!
Oh it will get better. You will get over it. It is only a piece of histo--er, I mean, fabric!;)
Last year I let go of the Levis jean jacket that I bought with babysitting money when I was 14 years old and embroidered a rose on the left shoulder. I wore or stored that puppy for 38 years. I checked with my kids first...they did not want it. I got $20 at the consignment shop. I'm good.
Blackdog Lin
8-29-12, 9:04pm
Fawn: once again, good job. I like your attitude.
This thread has got me to thinking. (Not necessarily a good thing. :)) I've been in a decluttering mood lately, just got up and looked, and there are 4 coats in the coat closet that need to go (3 of 'em mine). And I have no problem giving away 3 of them, but the pea coat.....I just want to keep it. I can't think of any special memories or any reason whatsoever that makes me feel this way, it's just a.....durable (very durable) piece of history. That coat will outlast my potential grandchildren - but that really isn't a good reason to keep it on hand, is it?
DH and I complement each other well: he's a keeper, I'm a thrower. It keeps the household in some sort of balance.....oh, just thinking out loud.
I shall declutter the coat closet to the tune of 3 coats.....but keep the pea coat. There must be a reason I'm not willing to let it go.
As always, go with your instincts. (Advice I wish I had followed at many junctions in my life...)
rodeosweetheart
8-30-12, 3:27am
I love it that you saved the buttons. You could burn more emotional clothing and save the buttons and make a cool bracelet.
Maybe I will do that!
shadowmoss
8-30-12, 9:43am
Keep the pea coat. Your grandkids will get a kick out of it, and it is a useful bit of your history to pass along, unlike something that is just decorative. Then again, I'm the one with 2 10'x20' storage units...
I had a pea coat too. I wonder what ever happened to that??
I wore it with a 10' long muffler (scarf) wrapped around my neck. Long mufflers were common back then (with another foot of fringe on the ends). I remember one day on the way back from class at college, I thought someone had grabbed my muffler and was strangling me............ The long thing had gotten caught on some rose bushes. hahahaha
Blackdog Lin
8-30-12, 8:59pm
Shadowmoss: re: your storage units: hee-hee.....but I can cast no stones. We have a 2000 sq. ft. (or so) barn so that DH can keep every flipping freaking potential piece of crap that might be semi-potentially useful or valuable or.....well, most of it is just crap, but he won't see it. But the barn is what keeps us from renting storage units.
Once every 4 years or so, we recognize a household need, and realize that instead of throwing money at the need we should just "shop" in the barn instead, and DH goes "AHA, AND YOU WOULD HAVE JUST THROWN THIS AWAY!" Yes, honey, we just saved $7.50, and you have $3500.00 in potential useful stuff that we don't need and can't use and it's all just setting out here in the barn getting older and more decrepit and ruined and worthless.
Husbands who are "keepers": I guess there are worse vices.....
OMG...I know someone just like your husband, Blackdog. And if you do throw something out, five years later it's like, "Hey, you made me throw this gazingus out and I really could have used it now." Like an elephant. Never forgets.
[QUOTE=CathyA;98406] doesn't.......oh, maybe a little. I really do try to power through the emotional part of parting I can remember when I was little, if something broke, I would keep it so it wouldn't feel lonely. QUOTE]
I'm kind of the same way. I feel as if these things have feelings, and would feel hurt if I threw them away. Some of these things I've owned for so long....what would it think if it was just dumped somewhere?
When I was in grade school we read this story about this 1970s paneled station wagon that was the family car for many years. It was replaced by a small efficient economy car and sent to be a demolition derby car. The car wondered where its family was, why did it have a number painted onto it, and why there were so many injured cars being towed away. It broke my heart. It didn't have a happy ending : (
Sometimes I wonder if those of us with this affliction (of feeling like inanimate objects have feelings), were sad lonely kids and we project those feelings onto material things. How was your childhood pony mom?
Anna Quindlen's recent memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake has a chapter on stuff and why we cling to it which I thought was interesting. She quotes Toqueville who said "Americans cling to the things of the world as if assured they will never die." I'm no analyst but I tend to agree that we have a hard time letting go of things as it reminds us of how temporary and fleeting our stay here is. I was just pondering a shoe box in my closet full of old (1969-1972) letters from mostly boyfriends of that day and my brief life in Mexico. They are part of my history but mean nothing to anyone else. In a way, it would be very liberating to have a little ceremony where I make a pile and set them on fire. Not anytime soon though...maybe when we move and I have to be more practical about such things.
Sometimes I wonder if those of us with this affliction (of feeling like inanimate objects have feelings), were sad lonely kids and we project those feelings onto material things. How was your childhood pony mom?
I always had a great imagination and spent many hours playing on my own. Don't think I was sad, but loved animals and wasn't allowed pets. So my stuffed animals and model horses were my favorite toys.
The real things are better.
Ripped apart those old work shirts from the horrible job! Put those in the trash with the chicken bones and other trash. Thanked those shirts and said good bye and they are in the trash. What took so long? I kept those shirts in the extra room's close but just opening the door gave me a sick feeling. I kept thinking, I can wear those shirts but if I did it would bring back memories of the nasty things that went on there. I feel 50 pounds lighter right now in my mind (now if I really was 50 pounds lighter, that would be even more awesome!)
Yippee - I did it!
HappyHiker
11-2-16, 9:03pm
Oh, this thread does my heart good. "Memory clothes" mentioned in a previous post describes this difficulty pf lightening our load of clothes with memories. Usually of a younger us. I did get rid of my hippie denim jacket, Cathy. Like yours, it was falling apart, way too small and I hadn't worn it in decades. Felt a pang/pain on parting but soon got over it.
Now I have, lurking in the back of my closet, two peignoirs, hand-sewn by my mother and given to me to wear on my honeymoon. Many moons ago honeymoon. How on earth can I part with THOSE? No matter how I tell myself that they are just "things." I've no daughter to pass them on to.. But maybe I'll send them along to my grand-niece when and if she marries? She's 16 now...
Silly me. Memories.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.