We are currently beginning day one of our second go at sorting out our late Father in Laws flat on the Continent. A very sad necessity.
We are not here long enough to eBay stuff, so the selling - sorting routes will include local FB Marketplace, car boots, charity shops and specific dealers.
It's so sad to be faced with someone's possessions and collections like this. Persian rugs, Brasses, huge copper kettles, grandfather clock, oils, furniture, vitrines, old glasses, coffee services, bric a brac and a record player.
My wife's Dad was a magpie and it's a bit like a dusty cobwebbed museum.
We haven't even touched the cellar yet. There's white goods, a thousand tools, a fox scarf, hundreds of coats, religious ornaments and a fondue set.
Have you had to empty a relatives home readers?
I did, I emptied my parents' home (and the house where I grew up). My mum had passed away and my dad was in a care home and I was readying the house to sell it. Depressing affair, you have my sympathy.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been hard Kev, especially where you grew up.
DeleteYes, I had to go through my Mother's things. It was several months before I could even start, it felt wrong to be going through her personal things. A friend helped with taking some items to charity shops, and a few sold. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteSounds like tough times Paul. I do empathise. We rely on friends too.
DeleteSadly yes. As an only child I helped when my parents downsized from the house I grew up in when they moved to sheltered housing and then again after they both passed.
ReplyDeleteI'm confident that my own daughter, who has no emotional attachments, will throw all my 'stuff' in a dumpster (skip).
Your Grandson will rescue the toys Terran!
DeleteAh yes, downsizing your parents house is a fun affair, as I can see from the comments! I’ve done mine, and helped with others.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it’s a combination of depressing and fascinating, as there are always things of rarity or interest in amongst the flotsam. And then of course, there are items you want to keep for yourself, which hinders your own attempt to keep a handle on your own clutter!
But helping others get rid of stuff has put the fear of god in me, and so I’m trying like hell to keep my various collections at least manageable, with limited success.
Cuz I have no heirs, and all of my treasures are going into the rubbish when I croak - a sad but inevitable outcome for a loner like me. I look at it this way - I enjoyed these things while I had them, and there’s no way I can see to rescue them for posterity, so there they go…
SFZ
You've sent some sci-fi models to Japan haven't you SF?
DeleteI had to deal with my parent's home when they died within three years of each other. As with Reader's experiences shared here, it was a trumatic time. My wife and I have already written our wills, but no one wants our house or my robot collection, so it will all be sold off piecemeal...
ReplyDeleteWe tend not to think about these things...
Your house sounds amazing! Like the Acker-mansion Looey!
DeleteBeen there, done that. When my oldest sister passed I was stationed in Germany. Going back to Milwaukee meant attending the funeral and helping sort out her belongings. Unfortunately, I wasn't in any position to be of much help as I was only there for about a week, and was only able to take a few objects back with me. Besides, as her tastes and ours were quite different, there was little to interest me.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your oldest Sister Ed. Very sad.
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