Making Room for Something New

From family heirlooms to old Céline—thoughts on getting rid of things that are (much) more than just things.

I’ve spent a good portion of my lifetime (so far) in a relationship with sentimental things—ruthlessly hunting them down, holding onto them for dear life, and also, eventually, and occasionally with great difficulty, getting rid of them. Not just ordinary things or things you actually forgot you owned (definitely get rid of those). But things that seem …