I’m not exactly sure when she got them, but my mom picked up a bunch of old baseball, basketball, and football cards from the 70s all the way to the early 2000s. They have just been sitting in the basement collecting dust and I figured what the hell, might as well see if anything of worth is in there.

So I start looking through sheet after sheet of these cards and I felt childhood memories flooding my brain. Then I began to remember familiar smells, and the way they were visually appealing or in some instances, hideous. All of it was positive and as I flipped through more and more memories, I couldn’t help but chuckle to recall how obsessed I was with the cards as a kid.

Since that time, I have had other all-consuming hobbies that were an equal obsession, and just like the sports cards, eventually became boring or no longer interested me. I have since grown to hate sports entirely, having seen people devote their entire lives to following a team. I see it all as a complete waste of time and money, but the memories remain intact and pleasant. It is a rare thing indeed to happen upon a childhood memory that captivates you in the way that seeing these cards did, and I appreciate that I can still access all the joy they gave me.

Now that I am an adult, I see that there may be market value to some of them, and I’ve set about the task of finding the cards I know will be worth something. There is a whole world of collectors that I have no interest in joining and learning all of the tricks of the trade with, so I’m sure I’ll get taken advantage of. But I don’t care, it will be 100% profit and it will help clean up more of the clutter around here.