I planned to start this blog on Ash Wednesday and continue giving/throwing away something each day during Lent. Unfortunately, my husband just got on a “Let’s clear out some of our clutter” streak yesterday and it involved me. He decided to go through a couple file cabinet drawers and throw out obsolete files. This was also not what I intended since I find it harder to sort through papers deciding whether we should save that 20 year old list of ways to make household cleaners from scratch or that endearing letter one of our kids sent us during high school. Pruning the clothes in my closet would have been easier. I did, however, reluctantly part with many of our kids grade school and high school awards, diplomas, etc. Even if they do become president one day, I figured archivists wouldn’t care to go back that far. The silver lining of this chore was finding one son’s college application essay. I didn’t remember how good it was and how much insight it showed at age 17. It’s a keeper.