Shredding Old Memories

Am I shredding old memories or just reclaiming a cubic foot of space in the closet? I am shredding a whole file box full of old Discover and bank statements, from the 90s and early 200s. The whole credit card number is still on the individual receipts in this batch of papers - I wonder when they stopped listing the whole number? Right after the beginnings of identity theft! All those purchases! Lots of carbon copies of checks. Just saw a listing for Southern Rubber, where we bought tire inner tubes to use as tubes for our swimming pool. How many times I patched those things! Loved using them in the pool.

There were checks to one daughter's middle school cafeteria and checks to one daughter's intermediate school. Long-ago stuff. One of the payments we regularly made in the 80s was to AOL Games. "You've Got Mail!" Checks to Geno and Kristi for euphonium and oboe lessons, checks to Food World and Bruno's in Birmingham, and checks from my editing job. All reminding me of times past, happy mostly!

The shredder only takes care of about 3 inches of papers before I have to empty it. So I have all these plastic bags full of shreds of paper. What if I poured them all into the big recycling bin? How long would neighbors be picking shreds off their lawns? Well, I did decide to recycle the shreds. I put them into boxes. I have lots of boxes in the garage and attic...all part of my too much stuff. The boxes can help deal with the stuff!