K is for Keys

How heavy is your keychain? Do you remember what all the keys you carry around are for? I recently had to replace a car, so I have taken a good look at my key collection that I carry with me everywhere I go. There are the essential and well known keys, the ones for my house, car and work. But then there are the others. I have a few keys that open up various doors in the house my family moved out of in August. The house is in the family, and still empty sadly, and we still have keys so that we can do more cleaning and grabbing things that we left behind in the garage and basement. Mind you that both locations still hold items left behind by my brother in law, who lived in that house before we moved in- at least five or six years ago now.

I also have some unknown keys. I think one is for my parent's house, one for my brothers, and possibly one for the home my grandmother has not lived in for four years. Then there is one small key,which must open a small safe or jewelry box. I have no idea what box it opens, or where that box might be. And then there are two keys that I have no idea what they belong to. They might be keys from a previous job, or anything really. I have no idea. However, I cannot seem to bring myself to remove them from my keychain. A few weeks ago I too off a key for a project at my son's preschool (they needed a key for each child). That afternoon I was trying to get some of my gardening equipment from the old house, and it turns out the key had been the one to open the garage. *sigh* Now I am doubly afraid to remove any keys from my collection.

I find myself keeping many things for someday, or just in case. The book I might read again, the empty container or yarn scrap that might be just what I need for that special project, my favorite shirt from the days when I sang with a band but would not wear out in public now, and so on. The fear that the moment I get rid of something is the time I will realize how much I needed it keeps me from getting rid of many small thing, that add up. However, rainy days and children that are playing nicely together are allowing me to delve into the closets and weed out those things that we really do not need and send them to those that might actually use them. If only I could convince myself that I could do the same with those keys...