A keepsake is something you keep because it reminds you of a person, place, or important moment in your life. It might be a seashell from a beach vacation, a ticket stub from your first baseball game, or a photo of you and your best friend. The object itself might not be worth much money, but it carries memories that matter to you.

People collect keepsakes for all sorts of reasons. Your grandmother might keep a pressed flower from her wedding day. You might save a rock from your favorite hiking trail or a note a friend wrote to you in third grade. These objects work like bookmarks for your memories: when you see them years later, they bring back feelings and details you might have otherwise forgotten.

Sometimes people give keepsakes as gifts, like when a teacher gives each student a small token on the last day of school or when teammates exchange pennants after a championship game. The value of a keepsake isn't in what it's made of, but in the story it tells and the memories it preserves.