| Blogs > spiritwoman45 > Life in the Canyon |
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It Used to Matter The other day my gave me a big bag of documents he found in a closet in the back room of my house identified for business purposes as my office. Since I have little in there and am not there often it ends up being a temporary place for all sorts of things. He found an old lock box in the closet containing stuff that was important once but not needed recently. What a trip down memory lane. When my husband passed 10 years ago I assembled lots of paper work for all of the legal needs and have worked from that file since. There was my original passport that was canceled when I moved to Canada along with my old WHO immunizations records. Ownership certificates and paid off loan documents for vehicles I haven’t owned in years. My and my husband’s original divorce and marriage documents that had been replaced by new copies when he passed. My in-laws old living will and my mother-in-law’s hand written family genealogy that was typed, copied and sent to the years ago. Official copies of my ’s birth and marriage certificates, my first granddaughter’s birth certificate as well as a document giving me power of attorney for her when lived in Germany. A stack of old credit cards that expired between 1999 and 2001 and a list of all card numbers and accounts, most of which I no longer have. Pay stubs from the late 90’s. How did I ever manage to do so much with so little? Old insurance policies that have were canceled or used years ago including a policy (proof of insurance) for a car I owned in 1995. Old end of the year pay stubs, retirement account statements and income projections by year. I remember how I would go over these each year and project when and how we could retire. When the time came none of the information was relevant because the situation was nothing like I planned. Paperwork from mortgage documents long since invalid via re-financing. I set aside the original marriage divorce and birth certificates and the ownership certificate for the 84 Fiero I have as a project car and wore the shredder out with the rest. What a reminder of how the things we think are important may well be important become irrelevant with the passage of time. We do the best we can at the time but things usually change by the time plans come to fruition. Spiritwoman ^i^ |
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I need to buy and industrial sized shredder. GBU, Gavin
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8/30/2013 1:24 am |
Hi Spirit: I sure wish I would have kept a few old documents like those, because you never know when you might need them. Years after my divorce to an American and leaving the U.S., now I'm in the process of applying for my Canadian old age pension. To my surprise I find that I'm supposed to attach all kinds of old documents to my application. I have no papers at all, and not even a passport as it wasn't required to enter the U.S. at that time. I think people should keep all important papers for at least twenty years.
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8/30/2013 5:52 am |
I recently found my Expo 67 passport from the Montreal World's Fair.
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I'm the same, I have paperwork going back many, many years. I know I no longer need some of it, but always seem to find a reason to keep it a bit longer. Alfie...
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I'm going through this process now. Yes, I'm terrified that I'll take some important document to the shedder!! There's a company here that for a small fee will shred any paperwork while you watch so no fear of nosey people. I will be using them. Although I have a little shredder, it would take forever. There's so much history in those papers!! Sighhhhhh
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Yup, got lots of papers I keep thinking...one day...when I do the file cabinet, I have drawers with "stuff", and a couple of boxes full of the same type "stuff". Most is only as long as I have lived here as I got rid of all the unnecessary "stuff" before I moved. What a mess that was!
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8/30/2013 9:37 am |
I'm usually called a squirrel for other behavior. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:39 am |
We have an office capacity shredder which is a good thing. I still have minor stuff that I have accumulated recently to get rid of but nothing really important either way. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:39 am |
I need to buy and industrial sized shredder. GBU, Gavin Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:41 am |
Hi Spirit: I sure wish I would have kept a few old documents like those, because you never know when you might need them. Years after my divorce to an American and leaving the U.S., now I'm in the process of applying for my Canadian old age pension. To my surprise I find that I'm supposed to attach all kinds of old documents to my application. I have no papers at all, and not even a passport as it wasn't required to enter the U.S. at that time. I think people should keep all important papers for at least twenty years. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:42 am |
As long as you have and can find the essentials why worry about the other stuff? Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:43 am |
I recently found my Expo 67 passport from the Montreal World's Fair. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:44 am |
I'm the same, I have paperwork going back many, many years. I know I no longer need some of it, but always seem to find a reason to keep it a bit longer. Alfie... Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:46 am |
I'm going through this process now. Yes, I'm terrified that I'll take some important document to the shedder!! There's a company here that for a small fee will shred any paperwork while you watch so no fear of nosey people. I will be using them. Although I have a little shredder, it would take forever. There's so much history in those papers!! Sighhhhhh Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:47 am |
I do miss the heavy duty government type shredder we had at work. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:50 am |
And if you don't the kids will do it some day. I remember going through my mother's stuff. The thing that amazed me most was that all of her life she was a very organized person but her papers were a jumble of essential things and junk, like restaurant receipts. Not much of anything had mattered to her in her last years. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:53 am |
Yup, got lots of papers I keep thinking...one day...when I do the file cabinet, I have drawers with "stuff", and a couple of boxes full of the same type "stuff". Most is only as long as I have lived here as I got rid of all the unnecessary "stuff" before I moved. What a mess that was! Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:55 am |
Especially when you have to get things together under crisis like you did. Definitely not a good time to decide what might be needed and what is not. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/30/2013 9:14 pm |
or a fireplace. Spiritwoman ^i^
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I don't have many of these but have saved up my books from my school days - I am not sure why ??!! Do I need a shredder too ??  "To fight the darkness do not draw your sword, light a candle" - Zarathustra
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