Sentimental Sap

All I have to say is.....wow.
I knew I had a lot of stuff, but man do I have a lot of stuff! Yesterday, I started sorting through things in my room and tackled the monstrosity of a closet I have. I found 3 bags full of cards from people I know and have known over the years.
This is going to sound completely absurd, but I feel old. This realization came the moment I opened a birthday card from my parents that said, "Happy Birthday! We can't believe you're 17 already!"
What the? Has it been 10 years since then already?! When did this happen?!!!
I've kept all my cards from the last 10 years for crying out loud! It's been ages since I've browsed through any of those bags in my closet. So I've decided that I'll read through the cards and then I'll be a good eco-friendly person and recycle all of them.

Moving can be an emotional thing at times. It stirs things up that you've long since forgotten. It reminds you of memories that decided to play hide and go seek somewhere along the way. In a lot of these cards, most of my friends didn't just write, "Happy Birthday" and left it at that. A lot of them wrote in ways that were pretty in depth, meaningful and encouraging...in ways that still move me even now.
Moving has turned me into a sentimental sap. It's hard to let go of things...even if they are just pieces of paper with words. I guess it's the meaning behind all of it along with all the years that are represented. It's like you find a part of yourself again that you left behind and you see who you were for a moment and you see who you were to other people.

It makes me feel like I'm 17 again...and then 18....I still feel 19....and 20...and 21....22..23..24..25...26 and now I'm 27.

Madeline L'engle once wrote, "We must never forget any part of ourselves. I am not an isolated, chronological statistic. I am 61, and I am also 4, and 12, and 15, and 23, and 31, and 45, and...and...and...
If we lose any part of ourselves we are thereby diminshed. For growing up never ends; we never get there. I am still in the process of growing up, but I will make no progress if I lose any of myself on the way."