Good idea, Uncle Ted. My mother never threw away anything that belonged to my father. It has taken me years to get rid of all of the stuff they both accumulated.
The view from old age is different from that of middle age or youth. Give away the physical things they aren’t important, and keep the friendships and embrace the good memories of a lifetime.
I throw out something every week. It costs more than a dollar a pound to have a moving company relocate your junk. Next time I move, I hope to have only a few pieces of furniture and my own artworks.
My mom is 96. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff several years ago and offered me a nude painting which my dad commissioned in 1976, when she was 51 years old and still in great shape (daily workouts with Jack LaLanne, TV fitness guru). It now hangs in my home office, a place of honor between filing cabinets. When folks come over, I point to the painting and say, “Meet mom.” LOL
In her last few years, anytime we visited, my Mom would have us go through her things, to see what we might want to take home. She would say, “If you don’t take it now, you’re only going to have to deal with it all when I’m gone.” There’s still stuff to deal with, but she was a very efficient and practical-minded person — besides being a great Mom.
dadthedawg Premium Member over 3 years ago
Well, that’s a hearse of a different color…..
Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Premium Member over 3 years ago
I would like a funeral with me still alive, like in “Coming 2 America”
Leojim over 3 years ago
I doubt very many people lie on their deathbed wishing they had bought more junk.
GROG Premium Member over 3 years ago
True. You can’t take it with you.
LookingGlass Premium Member over 3 years ago
Finally!! Someone that has the right attitude!! You will not be able to take your “stuff” with you!!
:-)
nosirrom over 3 years ago
You know you’re growing old when your worry changes from how to get more stuff to how to get rid of all this stuff.
Ahuehuete over 3 years ago
That didn’t stop some Pharoahs
jmworacle over 3 years ago
Like “Fats” Domino would say I never saw no armored car drive to the cemetery.
GiantShetlandPony over 3 years ago
I’m still enjoying my stuff, but eventually I see myself getting to his point.
More Coffee Please! Premium Member over 3 years ago
“Death cleaning,” an intelligent decision (after a certain age, anyway)…
rdav1248961 Premium Member over 3 years ago
Good idea, Uncle Ted. My mother never threw away anything that belonged to my father. It has taken me years to get rid of all of the stuff they both accumulated.
rhpii over 3 years ago
The view from old age is different from that of middle age or youth. Give away the physical things they aren’t important, and keep the friendships and embrace the good memories of a lifetime.
Michael G. over 3 years ago
Reality sets in after you’ve buried a few old friends.
cracker65 over 3 years ago
Hurst with a luggage rack. A line from the song I believe by Brooks and Dunn.
Lola85 Premium Member over 3 years ago
I have a friend whose mother is a hoarder. When her mother dies, my friend is going to have a nightmare job of going through all that.
KEA over 3 years ago
Good thinking. I’ve been working on it for several years now.
dv1093 over 3 years ago
Same here – but a lot of my “stuff” I don’t know where to give it to.
mistercatworks over 3 years ago
I throw out something every week. It costs more than a dollar a pound to have a moving company relocate your junk. Next time I move, I hope to have only a few pieces of furniture and my own artworks.
raybarb44 over 3 years ago
Uncle Ted has the right idea. Must be from a different branch of the Thornapple tree…
cuzinron47 over 3 years ago
The old saying, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The reverse is true too. One man’s mementos is another man’s junk.
Le'Roy Hawkins over 3 years ago
Yep. After going thru all my Mom’s stuff, I don’t want to do the same to my kids.
Celarius Premium Member over 3 years ago
That’s my plan
Michael McKown Premium Member over 3 years ago
My mom is 96. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff several years ago and offered me a nude painting which my dad commissioned in 1976, when she was 51 years old and still in great shape (daily workouts with Jack LaLanne, TV fitness guru). It now hangs in my home office, a place of honor between filing cabinets. When folks come over, I point to the painting and say, “Meet mom.” LOL
paullp Premium Member over 3 years ago
In her last few years, anytime we visited, my Mom would have us go through her things, to see what we might want to take home. She would say, “If you don’t take it now, you’re only going to have to deal with it all when I’m gone.” There’s still stuff to deal with, but she was a very efficient and practical-minded person — besides being a great Mom.
Brent Rosenthal Premium Member over 3 years ago
I wish I had an Uncle Ted