Welcome to Volume 10 of Clutter Tales, a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. Today, I have another guest post. This tale – Dear Diary – comes from Rachel at Jasperden Health. She reminisces about finding a diary from 15 years ago and how it sparked memories of one of the best years of her life.

About today’s guest blogger

Rachel is a former nurse and couch potato who has developed a passion for running, exercise, health and wellbeing. On her blog at Jasperden Health, she shares fascinating and practical tips to inspire her readers to follow a healthier life. I always look forward to Rachel’s posts – especially when she writes about different foods and their effect on our bodies – and I learn something from every post. Please drop by and visit her blog.

Rachel’s Clutter Tale – Dear Diary

Michelle from Boomer Eco Crusader kindly asked me to write a post for her ‘Clutter Tales’ series.

So, I had a look in the black hole that is my wardrobe and found this diary from 2006.

Obviously, like me, you’d wonder why I’ve kept this diary. After all, I don’t usually keep old diaries.

Then, I read it and remembered. 2006 was one of the best years of my life. It was an exciting and lovely year for me. Don’t worry; I’m not going to write about what I did on 365 days! Just the highlights of this year.

During Christmas 2005, my partner and I got engaged, so 2006 started off really well.

In March, I changed my nursing job from working in a secure unit, (I was a mental health nurse) to one in a private hospital where I worked with patients who suffered from mental illnesses including depression, anxiety and addictions. Initially, it was a lovely environment to work in. The staff were friendly and even though I found it challenging at times, I used to look forward to going to work and felt fulfilled.

However, it wasn’t just my work that made me happy but spending quality time with my family and friends. There are numerous entries of my partner and I going out for meals with them and going to their houses to socialise. One of the many highlights was my Dad’s 60^th. My partner, parents, brother, uncle and auntie enjoyed a steam train ride from Carnforth to Ravenglass. We had fantastic views of the Northwest coast of England. And, it didn’t rain!

We stayed the night in a hotel in Morecambe and ate a lovely meal. Later, we had drinks in the bar and after my mum, partner and I went to bed, the rest of my family got complaints because one of them decided to play the piano, in the early hours of the morning!

I was also a member of a drama group and remember that year playing a Victorian woman, (19^th century Britain) in a play that was specially written for my group. Sadly, I’ve no photos.

In August, my partner and I had a holiday in Lido do Jesolo, Italy. The hotel was a bit outdated. There was a candlewick bedspread on our bed! I’ve been to Italy several times but it was the first time, I went there with my partner. So, we visited Venice, Verona and Lake Garda, amongst other places.

In October, we went to see Christina Aguilera and Muse; both at the Manchester Arena. (Sadly, where the bombing happened in 2017.) Nothing can beat a live performance. Frustratingly, I can’t find my ticket stubs, which I’m sure I kept for both concerts.

2006 was a fabulous and memorable year for me. I just remember feeling optimistic and looked forward to my future.

But, since then, everything seemed to go downhill for me.

I got disillusioned with my job and eventually, left nursing.

My partner and I went through quite a few years of redundancies, money worries and unemployment. I’m not saying we didn’t have good times since that year but I felt the subsequent years were blighted by our financial problems. And I realise that we’d spent quite a bit less time with our family and friends; even before the pandemic. We felt too embarrassed about our financial concerns.

We didn’t get married; we still haven’t.

It’s only the last 5/6 years since we’ve got ourselves sorted and enjoying life again.

One day, we may get married.

Who knows…?

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

Thanks again to Rachel for sharing this story with us. When I read it and looked at her pictures, I had to smile because my husband and I went on that very same train trip when we visited England in 1998.

Please drop by and visit Rachel’s blog at Jasperden Health. I know you’ll learn a lot from her practical tips.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!

Do you ever go back and look at your old journals and diaries? Tell us about it below.