My grandma loved to tell me about her collection of salt and pepper shakers. She would pull her favorites down from custom-built shelves she had installed in her home - she always wanted to have her assembly on display - and would tell me their history. She started collecting when she inherited her own grandmother's collection. At that time, there were only around 100 pairs.
When I became an adult and my grandma needed to downsize to move in permanently with my uncle, the salt and pepper shakers were passed to me. At that point, the collection had become a work of our entire family. Whenever someone took a vacation, they bought salt and pepper shakers for grandma. When there was a family holiday, grandma got a couple of new pairs.
This patchwork of family memory was now mine, and as a deeply sentimental person, I was honored that my grandma had chosen to pass it on to me. There was one problem, however - this was no longer a small, manageable set. Instead, it had grown to a massive hoard of over 1000 pieces - closer to 1100 at the last count.
I have a problem. It's hard for me to let anything go. If someone gives me a gift, I have to keep it. If a shirt came from a trip or is attached to a memory, it will stay with me until it's ragged. I didn't realize how unhealthy this was until I faced my grandma's collection.
Collection
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