Keeping the Memories vs. Keeping the Things

As one woman said,

In my fourth move in four years, when I was packing up my grandmother's six sets of dessert plates once again, I knew I'd never used any of them, ever. It hit me that I didn't even like most of them very much, couldn't put them in the dishwasher, and had felt obligated to keep them so I would remember her. But I didn't get anything out of having them. When I sat down and thought about it, I realized that I would remember my grandmother with those plates or without. And I was happier getting rid of them instead of hauling them to another house.

From Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions, by Jane Hammerslough

[Photo from Stacy's Shabby Shoppe]