Ye Olden Days

Dear Whoever You Might Be,

      It is already the end of June. On Sunday (the 29th), I will turn *twenty-two* years old. In two months from today, I will start my career as a graduate student in Los Angeles. Where has the time gone?

      As I prepare for all of these changes, I've had to start going through all the crap stuff in my bedroom. I mean, let's be real...I wish I could take every single thing that I own to California...but I cannot. So here's where my point is --- I came across my high school yearbooks and I wondered, keep or toss? I feel like high school yearbooks are one of those cliché adult items to wistfully flip through with your kids and wistfully reminisce on the good ole days while your kids make fun of your bad hair, bad braces, and overall bad style. But when I think of those kind of moments, I always picture yearbooks from the 70s, 80s, and even 90s. I picture the big hair, the big glasses, and all of the ridiculous love notes written between the pages from the end of the year romances and BFF "have a good summer, xoxo" signatures. But I don't have one of those yearbooks.

      I went to a Catholic, all-girls high school. And I graduated in 2010. Our children may laugh at our hairstyles, but personally, I don't think there is anything unusual about them. We all look extraordinarily normal. And we are in uniforms so there is no mocking our generational fashion choices. I didn't even have braces to fondly cringe at. I have no "Omg Have a good summer" or "Bobby loves Suzy" handwritten notes in the front and back because, well, we just didn't do that. In fact, we didn't get our yearbooks until the FALL of the following year.

      Sooo....what is so sentimental about these books down memory lane? These *iconic columns* of our past? When I have kids, am I really going to whip out these old things and share with my kids the black and white photos of private-school days past? I don't think so. But, at the same time, what if that day DOES come and I have nothing to share because I threw them away? What if I run into that woman in the grocery store who's name I cannot remember and I don't have my yearbooks to go back to and figure it out? But what if I ship an extra 5 pounds (these books are heavy!!) to California for absolutely nothing.

      As you all could probably tell, I am a HUGE advocate for paper books. There is something to wonderful about holding a book and flipping through the pages rather than swiping your finger on a tablet. I'm not sure I feel the same about these particular books. I mean, if I want to remember  what people looked like in high school, I could just go on Facebook. If I want to remember what I looked like in high school, I need to just close my eyes and picture it. I mean, I looked at myself everyday in the mirror during those years. I don't think I need to go back and keep looking.

      So what do you all think I should do? Are these captured moments of the past worth my time?

                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                    Me
P.S.....Yes, I did arrange and have a photo shoot on my floor with my yearbooks...and yes, I used a filter.