Yeah. It was hard to put it away. I struggled with feeling like I was somehow betraying myself. It took a long time to get it into the box, and then deliberately making room on that shelf was another chore, and then having the courage to put it up there on that shelf, out of sight, was another step.

But then it was done. And it was SUCH a relief when I finally did it.

I rarely look into that box anymore. It isn't candy in there, which keeps me from that temptation. I completely understand what you are saying. It's more like I know it is Pandora's box. I now fear opening it again and not being able to put the lid back on. Some things are better left in a box on the back of the top shelf.

I know what is in there. I don't have to look at it again to somehow make it more real.

It was interesting when my mother passed away and we were cleaning out her house. She had SO much put away, literally, in boxes on high shelves in the back of closets, in the attic, under the beds. And in looking at what was in those boxes, we realized MUCH of it was memory, MUCH of it was very painful memory. And our sweet mother had had the wisdom to literally put those things away, out of eyesight, out of constant memory. Smart woman. She always was a woman able to find peace within herself. I know how she did it now. I wish I had learned sooner.