How do you cope with the loss of important or precious sentimental items?

A piece of jewelry, an irreplaceable photograph of someone extremely special (maybe even one of yourself in earlier times). Something you wrote, or a letter you received back when people wrote letters. A souvenir that fleshes out the memory of a perfect vacation from the distant past. Touchstones of who we are.

Have you ever lost something of great value to YOU? I tend to fly into panic mode, tear things apart looking for it, and fret all night long. I know I’m weird, but there are things I’ve been looking for for years, and mourn the loss of the irretrievable.

Some sentimental objects are other people’s trash and they cannot identify it as valuable and toss it. Other sentimental objects are other people’s treasures and they are stolen. They can be replaced, with something suitable, but not like what you had. Other things are just misplaced or lost because we were distracted. Or they were lost to natural disasters such as fires, floods, or hurricanes.

Have you ever lost anything you can tell about?

And, how do you cope with this? How do you find peace when losing something irreplaceable?