T - 35: Hi-Yo Silver! Away!

I have begun to clear out my office. Yesterday I threw away dozens of reports that seemed critical to keep at one time and were useless now. I saved some end-of-year company reports from 1991 through last year in case Davy, my successor, ever wants some historical perspective on the job. However, I am pretty sure that this attention to the past only happens when you're close to retirement.

When I started to clear out the bookcase on the far wall that I never use, I was hit with some real dilemmas. There were lots of the things that the company has given me over the years - all stamped with the logo, all bearing testament to something or other that happened ages ago but which I no longer recall. Some were mementos of meetings, like "Worldwide Managers Meeting, 1995", but I don't even remember which city we were in that year. Frankly, not having any idea where we were or who was there lessens the sentimental value just a bit.

Several of the items were awards the company gave me. I have pictures of me receiving some of the inscribed silver plates, and from the look on my face I am pretty sure I was incredibly happy to receive them. But now I look at the inscriptions - things like "Greatest Increase in Paid Circulation" - and I do not even remember which magazine that was for. More than that, I know this is not one of the defining accomplishments I will want to recall in my retirement. Lily is not likely think her grandfather was great because he sold more subscriptions than anyone else in 1992.

I have seven silver plates. I have those glass things with etched stuff inside them. I have a silver pitcher, a crystal globe, a Cross pen-and-pencil set in a marble base. Linda and I are in the process of reducing the stuff we own, and here comes all this stuff from the office. What do I do with them?

Obviously, the seven silver plates won't even make a complete setting for dinner. More than that, I don't know if our guests would be impressed or put off by having their main course set on a plate reading "Highest Profit Margin" or "Greatest Increase in Online Visitors". There's the other problem that somewhere around 2007 the company downsized its awards, so the last couple of plates don't even match the first five.

Anyhow, back to my dilemma. Do I create a little post-work shrine to my accomplishments and company memories and visit it on days when I don't feel important anymore? Do I see if anyone on eBay will pay good money for a silver plate reading "Highest Percentage Growth in Profits"? Would the glass globe and star and boat sell at a garage sale? Should I stash it all in a box and put it in storage, and let the kids figure out what to do when I finally kick the bucket? A silver plate to the best suggestion!