Yesterday I was cleaning out my closet and I found my “Just Married” flip flops.  I sat there staring at them and thinking, what do I do with them? Do I keep them, do I throw them away? They are just flip flops, but they symbolize so much more. I look at them and I remember opening the gift. His and Her flip flops and Just Married T-shirts. I remember walking hand in hand on the beach on our honeymoon printing “Just Married” into the sand. Are they just flip flops or are they more than that? This got me thinking. What do you do with the “other wedding gifts”: the wedding frames, photo albums, cute bride and groom gifts (His and Hers mugs , Mr & Mrs. towels, Bride and Groom cookbooks, etc.)?

I remember when I broke up with my first ex boyfriend in college I could not throw away the “memories” (photos, gifts, ticket stubs, cards, etc.) and sealed them in a box. We ended up back together again for a while and I was relieved I had held onto them. In the four years with my husband I collected a lot “memories”. We both held onto everything. Every card we wrote to each other, the guitar pick from the first concert we saw together, the cute little stuffed animals. You name it, we saved it. Yes, we were sentimental fools.  To me it was more than photos and ticket stubs. It was our “memories”.

When my husband and I first separated, there was talk that it would be temporary, and I thought the items would be resurfaced from their temporary home, a Rubbermaid bin. After he took all of his things the only things I had left of him were the wedding memorabilia and other “stuff”. Now that it’s been six months and it’s very clear divorce is in our future, I don’t know what to do with them. Do I still seal them in a box, never to be opened? Do I throw them away? Friends have suggested a bonfire, but that’s just not me.

My question to my fellow divorcees is, What did you do with your wedding memorabilia and other “stuff”? Please feel free to leave any advice or tips. Thanks