“Just toss it!” is the rallying cry of these weeks. But some items we simply can’t bring ourselves to discard. 9 writers share

I’m a perpetual optimist. At least that’s the euphemism I used when I refused to give away my baby girls’ clothes despite the birth of boy after boy.

There were so many memories tied up in each pink stretchie, each frilly dress with its matching ruffled socks. I refused to believe these adorable outfits wouldn’t one day grace another little girl of mine, so I stubbornly held on to the crates of clothes as my youngest daughter passed birthday after birthday.

Finally, when she was 15, (yes, hope springs eternal) I realized that even if a new pampered Peritzman princess would appear on the scene, these clothes were hopelessly outdated and my daughters would never let me reuse them for any sister of theirs.

Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, donate them to a gemach, or even give them to a relative. Every so often I’d be attacked by the decluttering bug, open the plastic storage boxes and get lost in the past.