Do you look at your "stuff"

and wonder what will happen to it when you're gone? I am going to share a personal experience which made me realize the importance of taking a look at one's possessions and collections.

For 32 years I was in education as an English Teacher, School Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor.My parents Kenneth and Helen were married for 62 years and lived in the same home sitting on 30 acres slightly outside of a small Central Texas town all of their married life.

Daddy and Mother didn't like to throw anything away, so over the years the stuff grew and grew. Daddy tinkered around and collected anything he could. Mother held on to her own as well as inherited dishes, jewelry, silverware, coin collections, and keepsakes.
Mom died in 1997 and Dad joined her in 2000. Those were two sad days in our family's life. What happened after their deaths had a profound effect on how I would choose to live the rest of my life.

What happened was that as the ONLY child, I was left with a rambling style ranch house, 3 barns full of collectibles & junque, and a storage building of everything from old tools to coin collections.

I had just retired and was planning on spending the rest of my life traveling and playing. However, it was overwhelming to suddenly be responsible for all of the "treasures". Over a period of six months, I had several estate sales inside their house, then a series of garage sales at my home, and finally had to rent a huge storage building for the rest of it. For 3 years I kept a booth filled on consignment at an antique mall. I sold many items on ebay (User name: juju)and craigslist.

The profit from the items sold never equaled what I paid for rent of the booth and the storage building. My sentimental attachment to all of the knick knacks and my sense of duty or obligation to respect the inherited items prevented me from dumping it and running away to visit my friends in Florida or California.

After the burden of seven years moving it all around, it became clear to me that I wanted to minimalize and spend the rest of my life free of "collected treasures".

The point of all of this is..DON'T burden your kids with all of your keepsakes after you are gone. Chances are that half of your family "might" appreciate Grandpa's gold wedding ring, but the rest will probably let it go to some local peddler who comes in and offers them $25 to haul it all off.

Simplifying your life and possessions brings a wonderful sense of freedom and peace.

As a counselor and an experienced "inheritor" I highly recommend that you consider downsizing while you can and have the good health to do it, and so your children won't have to take time out of their busy lives to do what I did.

It can be fun to see how much you can get for that old wedding ring or necklace or Walking Silver Dollar or sack of Wheat Pennies. And besides, you can take the cash and run out and buy yourself a new Caddy CT or take another cruise.

If only I had known in 2000 what I know now.
The most important advice I can give you is to talk to someone who knows what they are doing and is in the market every day. Research online and get a second opinion of the worth of an item. Don't put your items in an envelope and mail them to the company as seen on the tv commercial. Good Morning America did a report and found that of three identical rings, two appraisal sources gave them an offer of $52 on a gold ring valued at $58 but the tv company sent them a check for just $8.95.

The kids have moved out, you've simplified your life or you're just tired
of having too much clutter that takes a bite out of your free time. No only do cluttered homes contribute to the stress level in a home, but also leave visitors feeling like they've just spent a few hours in a booth at an antique mall.

I am suggesting that you go through all your treasures and enjoy the trip down memory lane. Then sell the crap!


When we acquire objects, we place them in our house relative to their emotional value to us. Objects that are in the heart of the home, in the family room and kitchen, are those we value and use the most, so they can be identified immediately. Those objects farthest away from these rooms, in a shed, attic or basement, may have lost their importance to us over time. That's where we should begin the culling process. Then move to other rooms farthest from the home's prime living areas, like the bedrooms. Continue culling in ever-smaller circles.

The job of editing a family's possessions usually falls on women, but it's essential that the whole family be involved, since objects hold different meaning for different people. A wife who decides to save her child's outgrown toy train set may later discover that her adult child doesn't want it and she's been storing it for years for no reason. Conversely, she may inadvertently toss an old baseball glove of her husband's that reminds him of the summer he was the Little League pitching star and holds great sentimental value.

By focusing on every object in your house one at a time, you can decide whether you'll still be using it two or three years from now. If you can't use it, toss, sell or donate the item.

Photos of family and friends are often our most valued possessions. They're also often stuck in bulky boxes somewhere, where they can't be enjoyed and are vulnerable to fire, water damage or insect infestation. Allow yourself several days to go through your collection, throwing out duplicate and unflattering shots. Scan the remainder, and then make a CD, which you should keep in a fireproof safe or your safety deposit box. As a further backup, post the photos to a Web site. Then arrange the paper photos in beautiful albums that you can keep in your new home's family room, where you'll be more likely to look at them often.