Marshmallow Diamonds and Labia Moons

First and foremost, I hate the Irish. Just kidding. I would drink bath water from your forefather’s assholes AKA “Mystic River”.

Throughout the last decade of my life, I’ve been forced to condense my personal belongings into whatever fits in a sedan. I no longer own most of the stuff I brought to L.A. I no longer own most of the stuff I bought in L.A.

With each move, I seem to own less and less, donating and throwing away tangible representations of my time here on earth. This weekend, I went through storage and disposed of TONS of stuff – old homework assignments, greeting cards, knick knacks, the one Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that marked the descent of my Bert and Ernies. I kept lots of pictures and some Larry Bird cups.

Twenty eight years of bullshit now fits into two boxes.

I feel like we hold on to things for so long – things that will forever live in boxes. Eventually, those things begin to define you because the boxes keep piling up until there’s no room left. I finally made plenty of room for new memories. But this time around, I’ll do a better job of only holding on to the one’s that matter…

This is “All Things Considered” on NPR News. I’m Michele Norris. And I’m Melissa Block.