Last week I received a letter and package from the widow of Robert Brouk, who is the focus of my book, To Soar with the Tigers. She sent me a few of Robert’s belongings that he got in Rangoon 1941-1942. I needed to make space in my curio cabinet for these items so I decided this was the weekend to drag out all my big tubs of memories downstairs and sort and organize them.
Here is what I did:
- Emptied each box, one at a time.
- Threw out duplicates of items and things I just didn’t need to save.
- Photographed some items too large to put in a scrapbook.
- Started scanning some items.
- Took the time to look through some things I had not before.
- Sorted the boxes by person – me, husband, each of our parents, each of our children. Now it is no longer a jumbled mess of stuff.
What did I learn?
- That this is an important activity everyone should do so when you die, your belongings aren’t scattered and unorganized so your heirs do not know what belonged to whom.
- I am one step closer to created a scrapbook of treasured items with labels so we know the story and person behind them.
- Gave me a chance to stop working so hard on work and take time for my research.
- And I believe my kids will appreciate the sorting some day.
Are you sorting, indexing, scanning, photographing, labeling, and preparing your items for the future? If not, how come?
Italian Ancestors
You’re giving me a push to empty out all those boxes and resort into finer categories than simply “my family” and “hubby’s family.” I have lots of plastic sleeves to encase photos and documents in so I can label and separate. But after the first 100 items, I’ve slowed down. I need to catch up on the labeling and telling the story! Thanks again for the motivation.
Let us know how that goes and any tips you have as you go through your boxes.