The Oldest Things
Found this prompt through Loreleice's post, which traces back to Forking Mad's post, and finally Thomas Rigby's post. I will consider the scope to be the items I have as part of my personal belongings (so excluding my late dad's Trunk of Memories) and with me (my mother still has my baby shoes, jewelries, my preschool workbooks, and a host of other things). I'm also excluding formal documents, because they aren't very exciting. Thanks to my mother though, I have the complete record of my schooling performance with all the behavioral notes (amusing, because everything was there all along).
In the end, we are left with... not much. I was too young when my grandparents passed away, so I never received anything substantial (the one time I did, I immediately broke it). I didn't take a single piece of furniture with me when I moved out because the good ones were solid wood and therefore very heavy. My hometown and I were separated by body of water which would require me to finagle ferry crossings and all that.
In general, the stuff I have with me can be categorized as:
mid-2000s clothings and paraphernalia I had growing up and brought with me when I moved out. I still fit in some of these clothings. Recently I donated the ones I no longer could wear (thanks COVID) and some art supplies I got as childhood birthday presents (dry media kept a surprisingly long time). It was amusing that the kid I donated it to was younger than the set's age. I have no qualms with wearing my teenage shirts as an adult, as long as they still fit. Clothings are clothings. I've always preferred basic designs anyway. Some of my taste has changed, but given that I don't go out often anyway, I don't find a good reason to buy new ones. I also have my childhood blanket and assorted everyday items. Among the most interesting ones: a set of snack tray, stainless steel spoon, fork, and knife from the kid's menu in a plane trip back when planes were special and local airlines weren't the hot mess they are today (they came with a magnetic chess set). I lost the knife somewhere in 4 moves, but the rest are still in use daily. Last, a luggage I'm pretty sure predates me (or at least just as old). We dragged this across family trips, the tags overlapping in unsightly mess.
Gifts: A field compass and good pair of binoculars my father gave me as a gift when I went to college. He'd had this for a long time, I don't know how long. They're built to last. The compass I can still find use of every now and then, but I wish I could use the binoculars more (it doesn't play well with my myopia). I also have a couple of pens given by a friend who helped in an estate sale. I don't know how old they are, but given the models they were from late 1990's at most. Then a friend's childhood blanket given when they moved abroad...
Books are their own category. I'm by no means an antiquarian but I do have some old books from secondhand shops. They were assorted classics and perennial bestsellers like Agatha Christie's. In other words: comfy reads, not gonna worth a penny to anyone else.
Many things have worn down or gotten replaced over the years. These days, I try to buy quality now that I can afford it (lately I've been very annoyed by plastics in general, so I would try to get glass and stainless when I can). Tying to my old post about belongings, I use one thing until they're no longer usable (my definition of "usable" could use some work). Learning where to save and where to splurge has been most beneficial. Never skimp on electronics for example, I've seen some serious fire hazards!
I still haven't done sorting through stuff and decide if I want to try scrapbooking. Recently I saw some notebooks with pockets and I think that might be a good middle road, glue some paper pockets into my notebooks and stow the ephemera that way instead of cutting and arranging them individually. This way I still have them as keepsakes without having to go full-blown arty crafty.
Overall, I am happy with what I have today, and I expect to still enjoy most of them in the coming decades.