When Opposites Attract

Three Spouses Tell Their Tales

Savers and Discarders*: Not till I was taking down our first Christmas tree did I become keenly aware of an important difference between my new husband and me. Phil watched as I tenderly wrapped the special ornaments from family and friends, then with equal care, packed the cheap Wal-Mart ones back into their original packages.

“Why don’t you just throw all the decorations away, Honey?” he asked.

“Throw them away?” I laughed. “These are Christmas ornaments, Phil.” Then I realized he was serious.

The man I married is practical, neat, logical—one of those people who recommends discarding anything you haven’t used for a month. Me, I’m a hunter-gatherer from a long line of hunter-gatherers. I’ve always saved everything. High school term papers, prom pictures, pom-poms from college football games, petals from the first rose Phil gave me—these were my treasures, but to Phil, they were “just junk.” Over the years, we have had little arguments and big ones over this issue.

Twelve years later, when we moved into a larger house, we filled a large moving van with furniture, household goods—and box after box of my precious mementos. Watching the movers crate and…

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