Opinions, please, fellow Clutter-Busters:

Last night, I celebrated the first Sunday in Advent with a bonfire of "classified waste" -- by which I mean documents I don't need any more that contain information I don't want blowing down the street on garbage day. It occurred to me that I should be burning the folders full of old family letters as well.

I'm 66 years old, after all, and not a figure of international fame, so my personal papers are hardly the stuff of history as yet unwritten. And Edmund had/has no more profile than I do.

Edmund tossed every postcard and personal letter he ever received into an ancient valise, and now they're sitting in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet waiting for SOMEBODY to make a decision. I could foist them onto his siblings, but that would be very unfair. Likewise, I don't like the idea that whoever settles my estate will have to paw through four drawers of folders before he or she considers that duty done.

So: I think I should spend some time this winter burning old letters. Agreed?