The gift’s meaning can remain even when the object no longer fits your life.

A present carries the moment of being thought of, and that is not stored in the object. The vase or the jumper from someone who loved you did its work when it arrived, and keeping something you never use out of fear of erasing the giver leaves the memory in a cupboard rather than in you. Affection does not live in things.

If something is only being kept out of guilt, let it go to someone who will enjoy it. Tell the story to someone, or write it down, so the memory has a home. The giver wanted you to have something good, not something to store.