My mom died last month, and we’ve been cleaning out her suite. After an initial cleanup and an estate sale, we’re packing the rest up for donation. Today four of us moved most of the furniture out and got almost everything packed.
Tomorrow, we’ll hopefully get the rest done before my wife and I start the 3 hour drive home.
God that sounds hard.
There’s some things I’m just not wired for and I think this is probably one of them. Having too much “stuff” just kinda freaks me out somehow, but just discarding photo albums and stuff would also feel wrong.
If there is a lot of stuff, you’ll probably find a lot of (for you) garbage. Clean that up first. Go through the heirlooms and photographs over time. Don’t keep the stuff that doesn’t have meaning to you. If it has meaning to someone else in the family, then pass it on - ideally to the next generation.
And take your time.