Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!!!!!!

Today was the day to start getting rid of "stuff"!!!! I have already 3 large garbage bags destined for the Salvation Army or Goodwill!!! Old stuff, newer stuff, patterns, yarn, sheets, projects I have started and never finished in what seems like a hundred years (I am exaggerating of course!!) Is that how to spell exaggerating? Anyway one linen closet has alot less "stuff" in it than when I started. I am starting on the next one! I will get rid of things that I can. But what does one do with other people's "stuff"!!! We have our kids "stuff" like pictures and projects they did at school and at home, gifts they made for us, pictures and things they got when they traveled or were at Bible School, each one is so special and has so many memories attached.... Gramma's "stuff", her music, her books, her patterns........things that my husband made when he was in woodworking in High School and who knows whose and what else we have around here!!! A few summers ago, we built a shed and we have that stacked with storage boxes filled with camping gear and Gramma's photo albums. What do we do with pictures? I have, in the closets, albums, albums and more albums! How many? I have not counted them but there are ALOT!!!! I do not want my kids to have to decide what to do with them so do I put them all out in a pile and then cart them off to the dump? or throw them into the fireplace?..............I can't, I simply can't!!!! How can I throw away pictures of my children when they were little, memories just keep flooding back when we did this or that or went on that vacation or had this special birthday! Or pictures of their first day at school and I remember the mixed emotions I had when with tears in my eyes sent them through those big doors the very first time! I prayed "Dear Lord, please keep them safe"......... And how does one get over the sentimental attachment one has to things that we have received from family and friends? I have many doilies that my mom has crocheted and I have a very hard time thinking about parting with them - in fact- right now, I can't do that either!! As I look at them and the love she put into every stitch, I can't help but wish that she was sitting across from me in my living-room with a cup of coffee and her crocheting in her hand and we would talk and laugh and sometimes cry........No, it isn't just a quick, easy job to start getting rid of things that have been a part of our lives for so long and I guess that right now, I will keep on enjoying them. I just can't get rid of all my"stuff"........ simple as that!!