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I've had a three-day weekend to focus mostly on cleaning out and tossing stuff. I swear I have either tossed, donated, or put in my give to kids piles at least 3/4 of the stuff in drawers and closets, but I have really only touched the surface. I can't believe I had saved 10 years of bank statement!! I've been getting paperless for at least two years, but that was all from way back.

Ditto for investment statements and medical invoices. I also was able to toss three years of income tax stuff, but all of this had to be shredded. I ended up taking out 5 of those huge contractor bags to the curb for trash pickup tomorrow. And I still have more filing cabinet stuff to work on. Whew!

All I have been doing tonight is sneezing and blowing my nose, which has to be from all the paper dust.

On a positive note, I found my parents' graduation announcement and two love letters my dad wrote my mom when they were 19. Found postcards from their honeymoon in 1938 at Niagara Falls and the receipt for my mother's wedding band my dad bought a couple of weeks before the wedding ($33). It was the Depression and they had very little money, so they eloped and drove to Niagara and spent most of their honeymoon with my mother's sister and her husband--very sweet.

Going to keep working on the filing stuff, and I swear I will never keep stuff again!!!

what a neat find though Judy would love something of that nature...who knows what mom has in her house won't be
fun when that time comes....hoping it won't be for years!!!
so you are doing your kids a big favor
sheila

Oh, Judy - what neat finds. I suggest you scan some of that stuff into your photos - so that you have those copies in case anything happens to the originals. Sounds like you've made a LOT of progress.

That's what takes so long when downsizing. You have to stop and look at the things you haven't seen in a long time....and remember....and then you have to decide what to do with it.

The more you go through...the more the process makes sense. You heart gets lighter in the end even though it has to withstand the waves of memories. Good work.

I am going to scan those letters and postcards tonight and share them with my sons and the other grandchildren. They certainly are treasures!

I couldn't sleep last night, so at 1:00 am I got out of bed and dumped everything else out of the two-drawer filing cabinet and lined it up on the floor to motivate myself. Tonight while I watch TV, I will go through my old insurance papers, bank records, and income tax stuff and try to pare it down to the essentials. My goal is to get my legal stuff down to one of those small clear portable filing drawers that I can store where my son can find stuff for me if I need it--like an income tax review. It all needs to be labeled clearly also.

The thing that I have been avoiding is the rest of the basement. There is still some of my son's stuff and my brother's stuff down there. What I think is worth saving of my brother's stuff will go to his daughter. The rest will get tossed because he is not competent for a lot of reasons, and I don't see him.

I am somehow going to have to hire a couple of young men to haul the remaining larger pieces like an old mattress, desk, etc. up the stairs and to the trash. Then, my son will get my storage shelves, and all I will need to do is stack empty boxes for packing and do some vacuuming before I put the place up for sale.

Onward!!!

Having a plan is half the battle. Sounds like you are well on your way.

Great to hear you are making progress. Take it one day at a time. There is an end at the tunnel.

Judy,

Looks like you are making good progress. And finding those little treasures is the fun part of it. Like some of the others said, you find them and then think about the memories and go from there.

I've scaled myself down to just what I need or am using in this house right now and when the time comes for me to sell it or whatever, it will only take on garage sale to get rid of it all. But while i was going through stuff here, I cam across a box of old valentines day cards and misc. that my parents had sent back and forth to each other, some from the years my dad was in the service during WWII. I thought maybe I would put them into a book, but after going through them and reading them, I decided that although it was neat looking into this part of my parents lives, it was their life and not mine. So I eventually threw them all out along with other stuff I have since gotten rid of. I have no children or grandchildren to pass them on to anyway. So I guess these find are like opening and closing the door in another chapter of our lives. We find, we remember, we store the memories and we go on with the next chapter.

Colliemom wrote:Judy,

Looks like you are making good progress. And finding those little treasures is the fun part of it. Like some of the others said, you find them and then think about the memories and go from there.

I've scaled myself down to just what I need or am using in this house right now and when the time comes for me to sell it or whatever, it will only take on garage sale to get rid of it all. But while i was going through stuff here, I cam across a box of old valentines day cards and misc. that my parents had sent back and forth to each other, some from the years my dad was in the service during WWII. I thought maybe I would put them into a book, but after going through them and reading them, I decided that although it was neat looking into this part of my parents lives, it was their life and not mine. So I eventually threw them all out along with other stuff I have since gotten rid of. I have no children or grandchildren to pass them on to anyway. So I guess these find are like opening and closing the door in another chapter of our lives. We find, we remember, we store the memories and we go on with the next chapter.

So very well said Sue. When I hoed out and downsized, twice, the kids went thru all the pictures and took the ones they wanted. I kept some and the rest were tossed out after checking with my brothers. I was truly amazed at the amount of stuff I had held on to for freaking years and then in the end I tossed it.

Heaven forbid I leave the mess for my kids to go thru. Wouldn't want to put them thru that pain and they wouldn't thank me either for leaving them the work.

That is exactly what I want to do, Echo. I cleaned out my mother's house twice--once before and once after she moved into senior housing. The last thing I want to do is have my kids have to do that after I am gone.

Made more progress last night on some bank and other financial stuff. Can't believe how lazy I was all these years--it is so easy to stuff something into a drawer or cabinet. This weekend is the dreaded basement.

I did decide I am going to have to hire a painter for one small room. Last time I painted just before Christmas, my Carpal Tunnel syndrome kicked in and I had horrible pain for a month. I am cheap so I bought the paint and thought I could do this one small den, but I have to face reality. Reality is certainly difficult the older you get, isn't it???

JudyJB wrote:That is exactly what I want to do, Echo. I cleaned out my mother's house twice--once before and once after she moved into senior housing. The last thing I want to do is have my kids have to do that after I am

When I emptied out my house to ready it for sale and had that final yard sale, I told my dd that someday you'll thank me for this. She said, "I already am"

JudyJB wrote:That is exactly what I want to do, Echo. I cleaned out my mother's house twice--once before and once after she moved into senior housing. The last thing I want to do is have my kids have to do that after I am gone.

It's amazing the 'foolish' stuff we save after losing a loved one. I kept stuff after Mom and Dad were gone, just foolish worthless 'stuff'. Since then I have gotten rid of it and have only kept just a few things. I finally figured out that I didn't need all that 'stuff' to remember them. Those memories will always be in my heart and sometimes the danged-est thing will cause a memory and a smile.


(quote)I did decide I am going to have to hire a painter for one small room. Last time I painted just before Christmas, my Carpal Tunnel syndrome kicked in and I had horrible pain for a month. I am cheap so I bought the paint and thought I could do this one small den, but I have to face reality. Reality is certainly difficult the older you get, isn't it???

How right you are. There are times I 'forget' and go to do something and the "reality" hits me smack dab between the eyes! It's a wonder I don't end up looking like a raccoon permanently!!!

I remember after my mother moved into senior housing, people didn't know what to buy her, so they kept buying her knicknacks and teddy bears. The worst was people sending her photographs because she made me buy new frames for each one!! I kept thinking --- STOP BUYING HER STUFF, FOLKS!!!

I now own about 50 photo frames, most of which came from her house. I am keeping only a few and giving the rest away. The knicknacks I gave away also, mostly when she passed away.

I finished the rest of the shredding last night, so my office is a lot emptier. Most of my books are also gone. I have some I will take with me that I want to read for the first time or reread, and when I am done with each, it also will get donated.

While they aren't grateful now, I am sure someday my kids and grandkids will appreciate what I have done.