I Might Be a Hoarder

Let me preface this post by stating that hoarding is a very serious problem for many people and their loved ones. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a TV show about hoarders. I am not trying to make light of hoarders and hoarding; I simply want to share my story which begins...now (or actually last Friday).

With the holiday weekend and constant rain in the DC area, I decided that it was time to be really useful by going through some boxes. In the first box, I found my graduate school application and papers I wrote for my grad school classes. I should probably mention that I attended graduate school in 1999-2001. Anyway, it was nice reading letters of affirmation and recommendation from my mentors. I couldn't throw that away. While I did discard several papers (yes, typed papers on, well, paper), I kept anything that included personal stories.

As I continued going through boxes, I came across the following:

- Baseball, football, hockey & Desert Storm cards
- Books, CDs, cassette tapes and VHS tapes
- Trophies
- A journal from my 1993 trip to Israel
- Two bottles of Class of 1997 wine (custom wine designed particularly for my graduating class) and a 6-pack of specialized beer given to me for being a groomsman
- An entire box of cards and letters. I have holiday cards and other letters from family members that have passed away. It's nice to see their words and handwriting.

All of these items and more have some type of sentimental value, were gifts or I feel like I may need/use some day, so I refuse to throw them away.

These items are located primarily in two closets, so it's not like I'm unable to walk in my home due to the boxes.

Many of you probably think I should discard this stuff. I'm not ready to do that. (Quick poll: I have empty cans of Pepsi and Coke from the 1993 trip. The cans are in Hebrew. Are they worth anything? Basically, should I keep the cans or recycle them? I'm letting you decide their fate!)

On the positive side, I may have some new items for the Found In My Basement Series. I also pitched nearly all bills from before 2012. Of course, I placed them in a giant box while I try to find somewhere they can be shredded.