For many sports stars the memorabilia they acquire over the length of their career are not only tokens of what they achieved, but a way to put some tangibility to the memories of the biggest sporting days of their life.
Unfortunately for two-time All-Ireland winning Meath footballer Graham Geraghty, he no longer has any of the jerseys or memorabilia he collected over the course of his career.
"I used to have quite a bit up to about two years ago. I was clearing out one of the rooms upstairs and put a lot of jerseys and balls and memorabilia into three or four plastic bags, or black bags, and left them in the garage to sort out at a later date. My wife was having a spring clean at the same time so they all ended up in the one place I think".
A heartbreaking story for sports fans and those who treasure famous tokens from the past, but it's even worse when you realise just how much Geraghty lost and the historical and sentimental value attached to the items.
"The big thing for me would have been a ball I had signed by the seven All-Ireland winning captains from Meath, and sadly some of them are no longer with us. To have that, I have a picture at home of the seven of us together, but to have the ball would have been nice but I have All-Ireland winning balls, balls signed from when I would've played with Ireland. I had a rugby ball that came out of the old Landsdowne Road, it came from under the stand and someone gave it to me one day, I think it goes back to the 30s so having those things would be nice, and obviously your jerseys".
Thankfully for Geraghty, he's managed to cope with the loss pretty easily as he claims to not have been too obsessed with collecting opposition or his own jerseys over the years, instead favouring to pass them on to fans, though he says he still sees the odd jersey around Meath on his travels.
"I was never really one for keeping jerseys anyway. There was always some little kid coming swinging out of you after the game and you were glad to give them a jersey and keep them happy, but I've practically nothing left now".
"Over the years I would have spotted different jerseys I'd had on people's backs around different towns in Meath".
Geraghty still has his two All-Ireland medals that are stored safely at home, and while the loss of the signed ball still sticks in his mind, he continues to have a c'est la vie attitude to whole situation.
"That's one of the bigger things that would've went, but I suppose you'll still have the memories anyway".
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