If you grew up with a mother who washed out bread bags and saved them in a drawer, this list is for you.
My mother saved everything. Twist ties, rubber bands, glass jars and every box that ever came into the house. She folded used wrapping paper so neatly you’d think it was new.
I learned it all from her. And this fall, I found out how well I’d learned it.
Up in our attic, I counted eleven empty boxes from things we’d bought over the years. Some of those things weren’t even in our house anymore.
Under my kitchen sink was a bag full of plastic bags. In a drawer was a jar of twist ties I’d been adding to for twenty years.
None of it was hurting anyone. But none of it was helping, either.
So I went through the things our generation was told to keep, one at a time. Here is what was true back then, what’s true now, and the little bit of each I decided to keep.