Attachment to objects?

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My mom ripped up a jacket I had when I was younger that was one of the only pieces of clothing I felt comfortable in. I cried for awhile

I do not get sentemental attachment to objects at all. I will get attached to certain things because of how they feel though and prefer to use them.

My mother has a lot of hoarding tendencies and refuses to throw away things. She lives in a very small 1br apt in some old people apartments near me. Her place was crammed full of stuff she didn't use or need that was just taking up space. I'm talking about empty hairspray cans, empty shortening cans, empty all kinds of things, papers and junk mail from 20 years ago, etc. Her parents were hoarders of papers and things like that too and I grew up in a horribly overfilled house with people who were obsessed with keeping bank statements and cancelled checks and check stubs from 50 years ago. It's a fire hazard and can cause mice.

When she was in the hospital for a few weeks this past time, I cleaned her place from top to bottom and threw out the empty stuff and all the old papers she doesn't need. She was fine with it. I got her a filing system set up for her papers now and it was working fine while I was there, but now that I'm home she's filling it up with junk mail and saving the empy cat food cans again.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
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I absolutely get attached to objects, and there are two very different circumstances under which I get that way:

1) Anything which was a gift from someone important to me, and especially if that person is no longer living, etc, and/or if the object is a souvenir of a happy event in my past. I think this is a "normal" situation, which would affect anyone NT or on the Spectrum. "Sentimental value".

2) As with the OP's tea cup, I indeed get attached to things I use on a daily basis, but the attachment is not sentimental. It's more just that I'm used to it, and I don't like changes in most cases. That's a Spectrum thing, I think. It would be much the same as when I find a store I like on the other side of town, I might continue to go there after a closer or more convenient store is discovered or opened; a practice which NTs might consider foolish or wasteful. And yes I have the same coffee cup which I prefer to use every day, unless it gets so old and chipped that it cuts my lips, or if I drop it and it breaks. I also have trouble selling vehicles that I don't use anymore. And that's very foolish (admittedly), because I have to pay to maintain and insure and license all those old vehicles which are just sitting around. I would of course part with any or all of them in order not to fail financially, but as long as I can "afford it", I don't plan to part with any of them. I guess I have about 20 now including cars, trucks, and motorcycles. To be clear about those vehicles, they are not just junk sitting out and rusting. I keep all of them exactly as if I were using them every day; including keeping new batteries, gasoline or Diesel fuel unspoiled, and I keep them all washed, waxed, and in good condition. Most are stored in garages.

Charles

Yes, I do get very attached to objects.

I am moving to the opposite side of the country in August. I have lived in the same state and county my entire life (26 years), so there will obviously be a lot of people/places/objects I'll leave behind. What's the one thing I've cried about most? Selling my car!

Now, let me tell you about my car. Both fenders are smashed in...the paint is chipped on the front and back, the front seats are torn, the headliner is torn out, the dashboard is cracked and dry-rotting, it has no air and the radio doesn't work, and I'm lucky if it runs half of the time. Doesn't sound like something worth crying over, eh? Well, when I got it 6 years ago, it was in nice condition (I've been in many, many accidents, most involving deer, and if other drivers were involved, it was, surprisingly, always their fault...but they were always uninsured, so I never got any money to fix it), and it was my dream car! A 3rd Gen Camaro! Bright blue! Her name is Georgie (or George A. Camaro, after George A. Romero, the horror director), and despite the fact that I'd probably have to PAY SOMEONE to take her off my hands, I still remember her like she was the day she was given to me.

I've literally broken down sobbing over this car four times in the last week, and I'm not moving until August!

This is just one example. I have similar attachements to other objects.

I have that with clothes and note books. And pens. And books.

I have a mechanical pencil I've been drawing with for 20 years.

I think I've pretty much grown out of my odd attachment to things. I suppose I was a hoarder when I was younger, I just had an attachment to everything I owned, no matter how small, big, useless or insignificant. I do also have my own mug, and it's MY MUG!.

Ohhh, I attach to many things to my wife's dispear.

Of course I have, not one, but two cups that only I can use. I get realy uset when unawared guest find one of my cups in the shelves and use it.
But I take it one notch further regarding things. . .


Occasionally i change fields of interest (5-6 the last 30 yrs) and I dive into the matter, almost drowning myself in information about the subject. The learning curve is almost 90 degrees angle for months or years at the time.
During these manic times, i collect everything I can find that relates even slightly to my interest. When I find my money's run out, my house is too small or my wife had enough, I usually stop.
(Unfortunally, my memory seem to rust away, after only a fw months, my vast knowledge on spesific subject is more or less lost.)
Now my house is filled with lots of cool stuff that I can't part with.

My wife filled a whole container with my crap and dumped it a couple years ago. Among the items where hundreds of VHS tapes which I have spent hundreds of hours recording cool stuff onto (including tv-shows and comedies that I learned all ma catchy lines from) books, broken Hi-Fi parts I meant to fix and cool electronics and gadgeds from the terrible 80's.
A whole 7-8 square cubic meter container was filled all the way up!

I managed to hide away my trusty Ti-99 a4 "computer", two fairly close to mint in box Commodore 64, a heap of hi end stereo components, etc, etc. My intuition told me the time for dumping stuff was near.
Anyway, I guess that saved my marriage for another 10 years.

But still the house is filled with all other sorts of things like militaria, antiques I bought when I was a weird kid, old/antique toys, old 17-19 century prints/magazines/newspapers/woodcuts/art ++++++
I'm not one of those hoarders that's on tv that collects months old newspapers and useless crap. I could easily sell what I have left for good money as it seems that I had an eye for what would later be collectables.

But still I cannot part with one item, not one car from my collection of more than 2500-2700+ old toy cars. Instead I try to look for more at fleamarkeds and internet!

One day my wife will rent another container and clean it all out. That ill be the worst day in my life. I really appreciate things.

Ps. English is my second language and I write on a Samsung Tablet with way to small keyboard, so please disregard bad english.