When I told David Ekerdt, a professor emeritus at the University of Kansas, that throwing away my old mementos, which are scattered throughout my house from the basement up to the attic, made me feel like I was tearing out a piece of my soul, he told me I needed an attitude adjustment. My wife has said roughly the same thing to me, minus the professional credentials. But Ekerdt has spent years studying household downsizing, and he’s heard some version of my problem many times before.
Chip stocks have been on a wild ride. What comes next?Play video: Chip stocks have been on a wild ride. It started while I was helping my son search the attic for his life jacket.
I came across a briefcase I hadn’t opened in I don’t know how long. Inside were my elementary school report cards, two programs from concerts I played as a percussionist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and other assorted evidence of a childhood. Don’t Short Yourself offers weekly money tips to help you earn it, stack it and grow it.
I would like to receive updates and special offers from Dow Jones and affiliates. I can unsubscribe at any time. It reminded me of all the other stuff in my house.
In the basement: what I believe are my first pair of hockey skates, a broken papier-mâché Groucho Marx puppet, and a Green Bay Packers helmet I hand-painted in fourth grade. In my office: an Underwood No. 5 typewriter and a hockey puck in a Plexiglas case — the actual puck from the only goal I ever scored playing college hockey, in 1977. Now, I know that no one will ever build a museum for my stuff.
And I know there’s no James Boswell coming to write my biography. My wife and children will have no trouble tossing all of my memories into a dumpster someday. None of it will mean to them what it means to me.
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