Strange things you've kept

A length of lace sold to me on my doorstep when by a gypsy when I was 21. I had 3 small children, little money, but the gypsy was old, with a lined and kind face. She told me that I would move to a brand new house very soon. We did move from our old and quite dilapidated house to a brand new house within 2 or 3 years.
I had trimmed pillowcases with the lace and when they wore out, I cut it off and kept it.

I have a little knitted baby bonnet from DS3, who was 4.5lb and was the only one that fitted him. Also a baby hairbrush.

I have lots of things(junk) I am too sentimental to throw out - when I pop my clogs they will all end up in the skip.

Among them are a small chewed up piece of old dogs toy, from the only time I owned a dog, back in mid 1970s.

And the extremely heavy and dirty helmet, complete with sand etc, that my son wore for 6 hard months in Afghanistan as a medic. It kept him safe then, so I can't chuck it.

I have a wooden pipe rack that was presented to my grandad when he retired from mining. It is inscribed on the back in pencil. He died a couple of years later from lung related illnesses, no doubt exacerbated by pipe smoking and working down a mine!

I have a love heart with I love you on it about 34 years old. How could I forget which of my sons gave it to me? I pressed my sons little blazer to give it to him when he visited, he didn't give a glance but I'm keeping it just the same. Maybe his brother would like it as it was handed down.

When we were in Lake District 35 years ago I had a rough fingernail, my DS found a small piece of green slate and gave me it to smooth the nail. I can't throw it away, he's 45 and when the time comes will throw it away with an unaware shake of the head I expect.

My mother's brother died when she was 15 and he was at university. I've got his glasses, round and tortoiseshell. Obviously I never met him, but there's something so intimate about them.

I have some glass tree ornaments circa 1945 which I remember seeing on our tree when I was small, amazing as they are so fragile. I also have a lovely White broderie anglais romper suit which I bought for my baby son in 1969 then when I had a daughter in1969 I cut off the part which buttoned between the baby's legs and hemmed it round to turn it into a dress! Would we bother now?

I still have a small jar containing 21 stitches from my 34 yr old daughter's birth. It was my 4 th and last C -section !!! Also some Christmas tree fecorations from my childhood, loads of drawings my children did in school from up to 45 yrs ago. Why can't I let go of them !!!!

I have some bits of coal and salt, wrapped on brown paper, that Mum and Dad gave us on our first, first footing, in our new home, 55 years ago. Absent, I have also kept our long gone dog's collar.

I found in a drawer my son's dummy (soother) which he only used occasionally & it reminded me that as Xmas approached he had noticed he said that Baby Jesus did not have one and I could send it to him. !! So I took it in the spirit intended but hid it away in a drawer in case he should want it sometime but he never did. Its somewhat chewed & disgusting looking !! I also kept a lock of his hair from his first cut and when he married I parted it & put half into a locket for his wife. She was really touched but I was a bit worried she would think me an old sentimental fool. !!

I have a lock of my hair from when I was a toddler, it is kept in a 1940s matchbox. I could have transferred the hair into a better quality container but I think the matchbox adds to tne nostalgia.
I have DC's things they made at school such as spaghetti necklaces and christmas decorations.

Oh gosh, so many things! I have my grandmother's gold watch, given to me when I was 16. It no longer works, despite my DH having it restored and cleaned for my 50th birthday (it worked for about 5 years after that).
I have a blue gingham shirt my son wore aged 4 and an aran jacket I knitted for my daughter aged 5. No idea why I kept them, never really intended to, but by the time I realised they were in the back of a cupboard somewhere, they'd become nostalgic.
And then there's the first tooth of each of my children, wrapped in tissue and in an envelope with the dates. And the little tags that were round their ankles in hospital when they were born. And the scrap books into which I pasted all their birth congrats and first birthday cards. I even have a lock of my DD's hair from her haircut aged 3.
My mother's cigarette lighter - it didn't even work when she was still alive, so I don't know why she kept it! But it is rather stylish.
I think I might even still have the shawl I used for both my children and somewhere, but I can't find them, I have their first shoes.
I could probably go on....

Like so many others, I have loads of things including the dress I was wearing when DH proposed 36 years ago and a maternity dress my mother made & wore when she was expecting me 59 years ago - I wore it when pregnant with my two, now 32 and 30. I also have a long plait of my daughter's blonde hair from the first time it was cut short.

Oh and I have a copy of the London Evening Standard from the day before my DS was born - kept because my horoscope said that I would be putting in "extra hours of labour the following day"

Sorry, the quote should have closed after 'labour' not 'day'

reading these posts reminded me of what i've kept over the years.
my furry rabbit from my childhood [not the normal shape but standing with a pair of trousers on!]. the trousers are rather motheaten now and i keep intending to repair them.
also sitting on a shelf in the dining room is my "rubber dolly" which is now 68 years old. she wears a hand knitted baby set [i think i actually made it] but unfortunately one arm fell off years ago and although it's stuffed up the sleeve of the cardigan it's not very stable.
amongst other things i've kept is a bottle of lily of the valley perfume. it was my mother's favourite and it was the last present i bought for her at christmas in 2006. she passed away on 1 january 2007 and the nurses made sure that they sprayed the perfume around her room for her to smell. i've never been able to open the bottle - wonder if i ever will.

I kept all my daughter's baby teeth, minus the one that disappeared down the plughole but I did return them to her when I moved house. Also kept the little clay croft house she made about seven years old as part of a school project...couldn't bear to part with it.

I have two old check shirts that were my dad's.I wear them when I'm gardening or DIY and I remember him fondly . He died 10 years ago aged 86 after a short illness still with all his faculties intact - he was such a lovely dad .

I still have my father's email address on my computer. He died over 10 years ago, but I still can't bear to delete it. How sad or mad is that?

I have a plaster tortoise my son made in art. It is crumbling now and only has three legs, but I can't bear to throw it out. He made it 30yrs ago.
I also have my mum's nursing medals. She was born 100yrs ago and the topper from her brother's wedding cake. I don't know how I acquired it.
I also still have my son's hat he wore to come home from hospital, 37 yrs ago.
I am terribly sentimental. I pity my children when they have to clear out my house when I am gone!

DH can't understand why I have DS 1's pram blanket which was subsequently used by DD and DS2. I should get him to read this thread and maybe he will stop telling me to get rid of it! Our 'children' are now 41, 40 and almost 22.

I found DH's clinic weight card the other day. He's 63.

Among many family keepsakes I also have a 1970's hairpiece - at that time a perfect match to my very dark hair. My hair is now perfectly white which I'm happy with (dyed my way through the 'pepper & salt' stage)and it keeps me from longing for my original colour because it shows how ridiculous it would look with my current skin tone.

I unearthed a calculator which DS1 had at 15. He is now 45 and the calculator's battery is still going strong. I now wonder if he ever used it!