Keeping old diaries

[Prudie]

I've come across a box of my old diaries in the loft. I wouldn't want anyone to read them even after my death but have a block about throwing them out. Do any of you have personal stuff like that you wouldn't want others to see, what would you do?

[bednobs]

i dread my husband and myself dying together and my parents clearing out our house and finding my marital aids!

[craft1948]

What would be worse bednobs is bequeathing them to someone........

[bednobs]

too true

[boxtops]

Yes I used to keep a diary - when I left home, I burned them all.

[Mosaic]

You've got to face up to stuff like this. if you have a garden furnace or a chiminea, consign them to the flames in a little private ceremony, toast your past and present self with a nice wine, and scatter the (well-burned and chopped up) ashes on the garden.
Or, shred them and put into compost bin - all turned into worm-poo by next spring. Face up and move on - especially if you don't want them to be read.

[Prudie]

Good advice Mosaic, they are not from childhood but detail several years of a really destructive and obsessive (on my part) relationship. I had a quick flick through and felt sick reading what a pathetic doormat I was, I'm not good at facing my demons though.
LOl & bednobs, for some reason that won't bother me so much.

[jackthehat]

I happened across a couple of diaries I had kept from the time when my son was small.........I remember that I had devised some sort of code for the 'remainder' of the entries.

20-odd years later I had no idea what the code was and so put them to one side....

Then I remembered........decoded my diaries and made myself blush!! LoL

[rsvp]

prudie I'm in the throes of a massive clear out becasue I'm moving - I've come across my Mum's diaries and old passports - I did think of keeping them but have to really downsize so read one diary a night then burned it - agree, wouldn't like anyone else to read them. No world shattering news was recored but I can tell you each time any single member of the family rang, visited or took her to lunch/on holiday/shopping etc - also know when Jessica had measles and Sue lost her driving licence. Made me realise what really mattered to her and had a wonderful time reading through her days.

[MarkRae]

rsvp, there are companies which could have scanned the diaries and copied them onto a memory stick or DVD...

[boxtops]

My mum let on once that she had read my childhood diary - that felt like a betrayal and partly why I burned them. I guess it's not so much different now from a parent following a teenage daughter on FB to see what they're up to, but it felt bad at the time. My sister still keeps a nightly diary and keeps them all - I have no idea where.

[rsvp]

thanks markrae - maybe had I known I would have done it - but I enjoyed how I dealt with it so am content.

[tamborine]

this pc will shock my family

[Prudie]

yes rsvp i seem to have noted every phone call, no show etc etc! It's like JTH too, full of circles, ticks, crosses and other signs that I have no idea what they meant to me at the time!

[4getmenot]

I'd want my kids to have them when I go. Some rather bad stuff in there but they would get to know what I was like when young. Like you I read them and see what a twonk I was back then and how used I could be. But then a huge smile comes across my face that I got from how I was then to now. :-)

[moiflan]

I'd keep them, as I have mine,tho embarrassing,I secretly believe I will posthumously become a published author chronicling the laid back and somewhat degenerate lifestyle of young people in the 70s!By the way I wrote a love letter to a boyfriend who,being a roofer,and embarrassed in case it was found,hid it in a church roof ,God knows when that will,if ever,be found.Remember "written words can't be denied"if you're bothered.

[rsvp]

Prudie - maybe take note of Mark rae's suggestion. - 18.40 Sunday x

[netibiza]

I have kept diaries since 1977, and often refer to them to solve an argument, ie who did what and when? I love reliving the memories of the hippie days when I first came here to Ibiza, and the silly things OH and I argue about. I certainly don't mind others reading them when I'm dead. They probably won't believe half the things I got up to.

[Booldawg]

my diaries are written completely in code only understood by me and GCHQ.

[naomi24]

I found a diary from my teenage years, and one entry read 'This is a day I'll never forget'. Clearly a wonderful experience, but I couldn't remember for the life of me what I thought I'd never forget!! :o)

I'd destroy anything I wouldn't want someone else to read.

[sandyRoe]

Who was it said: 'You should always keep a diary. Some day it may keep you.'