Declutter dilemma: What to do with old diplomas

“I’m usually pretty good at decluttering and getting rid of things, but something is holding me back,” said the email I received from Betty of Celebration, Florida. “My husband recently passed away. He was well-known in his field, and now I’m faced with lots of diplomas and certificates that we’d had professionally framed and put in his office. It always made him happy to see them, but eventually he ended up putting them in a huge box and they sat in our garage for five to six years before he died. I don’t need them for any reason I can think of, but I hate to get rid of them in case there’s a reason I don’t see. Any thoughts?”

At some point, all of us will face (or have faced) Betty’s diploma dilemma. While I have my opinion, which we’ll get to, I ran the loaded question by three decluttering experts.

Professional organizer Sue Marie Bowling, owner of Thatorganizer.com, said, “Guilt can compel us to keep things for the life we lived, not the life we are living.” (Let that sink in for a minute.) “Your reader seems to have little emotional attachment to the physical evidence of her husband’s achievements. She journeyed through those accomplishments with him, so has the memories. However, for the rest of her family, a digitized record of her husband’s accomplishments would help ensure that they are not lost to history.”

Mitch Goldstone, owner of Scanmyphotos.com, recommends scanning and saving the originals. “They are part of your family’s history and should be preserved,” he said.

Note: If you are going to save these paper pieces of history, remove them from their frames, insert them in acid-free page protectors, and store them in an archival quality box.

Interior designer Mark Brunetz, author of “Take the U Out of Clutter,” had this suggestion: “As a tribute to her husband, Betty should upcycle the certificates. Commission a local artist or art student to take the most meaningful certificates and create a mixed-media piece of art that reflects the wife’s current style of décor. This way, they can be admired daily in a whole new way.” And you have just one framed piece, not 10.

All good advice. However, to really resolve what’s at the core of the diploma dilemma, we need to dive deeper. My test for what to save and what to let go boils down to three words: Need, use, love. You must answer yes to one.

You should save birth, death and marriage certificates because you might need them, and they matter in genealogical records. But academic diplomas are arguably useful only as long as the person is alive, the same way a driver’s license is useful. My degrees expire when I do. My family has my permission to toss them when I’m gone.

Here are some other considerations:

WHOSE IS IT? >> These diplomas aren’t yours. If the person who earned it has died, the degree is not going to benefit anyone else. Yes, it represents an accomplishment, but the person’s life work is a testament to that. Letting go of the physical symbol does not erase the achievement, nor does it diminish your love or respect for that person.

PLAY IT FORWARD. >> Ask yourself, if you don’t deal with it, who will? Often, our decision to hang on is merely thinly disguised procrastination. Not dealing with stuff is a way of dealing with it. “We’ll just put it in a box and let the kids decide.” That is how the giant generational snowball of stuff rolls forward, growing and weighing down those we least want to burden. Is that what you want?

IS THIS AN EXCEPTION? >> Certain diplomas have historic significance. If they belonged to, say, someone who walked on the moon or was the first person in your family to graduate from college, or if it was signed by someone famous, then you might have something worth saving. WOULD SAVING IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? >> Call me unsentimental, but I do not need to see my grandma’s high school diploma. When I came across my mother’s bachelor’s degree in nursing diploma after she died, I took a long look at it, thought about her life and her nursing career, and let it go. Did I scan it? No. Did I put it in an archival box? No. Do I love her less? No.

Betty, your husband already telegraphed that his diplomas had served their purpose. When his career wound down, he boxed them up. Don’t be afraid to let them go. It’s really OK.

Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson is the author of five home and lifestyle books, including “Downsizing the Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go” and “Downsizing the Blended Home: When Two Households Become One” (Sterling Publishing, 2019). You may reach her at marnijameson.com.