Jim's Seldom Seen Blog: How Much Sentimentality?

I’m about as sentimental a guy as there is. I’m big into nostalgia. I go to all my class reunions. I wouldn’t miss one. Every single Facebook friend is an ex-classmate, no family members, no non-classmate friends. As sentimental as I am, sometimes I think I can go too far. The subject comes to mind because I’m about to give some old clothing to the Goodwill, and to some of it I have a sentimental attachment. But that’s just it; I probably shouldn’t.

Take my beige suit, for example. It started out over two decades ago as an inexpensive suit. Now it is an inexpensive, out-of-style suit. The thing is; I wore it to my 20-year class reunion, which was over two decades ago. Not only do I specifically remember wearing this suit to the reunion, I have a couple of photos of me in it. So because I wore this cheap suit to a reunion, it now has sentimental value. How far should sentimentality go, anyway?

Back in the 80s I played quite a bit of golf. When the weather was cool, I would play golf in this ugly, dark brown sweatshirt. Not only do I still have this unsightly garment, but I hate to give it to Goodwill because I can remember playing golf in it with my late father. My level of sentimentality is just plain silly. Sometimes I think it can almost be a sickness.

A long-time, boyhood friend of mine recently found a piece of paper dating from our childhood. On the paper is a record of our slot cars’ elapse times, measured around a slot car racetrack. The track was set-up in my friend’s basement, those many decades ago. The date on the old, slightly yellowed paper is 11/6/65. My friend asked me if I wanted the old piece of paper. He said if I did not want it he was just going to throw it away. I have to say that I was shocked that he could even think of simply disposing of this bygone jewel. Naturally I told him that I wanted it. I have known my friend forever, and I was well aware that he has never been particularly nostalgic or sentimental, but I had no idea the scope of his deficiency. In this one area we are pole opposites.

There is a ton of old crap that I would never even consider getting rid of. Things like a junior high pennant, my high school graduation tassel, and my draft registration card, not to mention countless photos and ancient birthday cards. But I’m going to say farewell to the ugly sweatshirt and the archaic, beige suit. However I am going to keep the piece of paper with the slot car information. I think that’s a fair compromise to my unfathomable sentimentality. I can only hope that some needy man purchases that old suit, and appreciates it. Who knows, maybe some down-on-his luck guy will buy the outfit to wear at his wedding. Can you imagine the sentimentality he would have for it?