It's all just stuff...

[Engineer1911]

I have a 12 year old 24 x 32 garage full. It holds a 1992 16' john boat and 25 hp outboad, 44 fishpoles and reels, wife's Chevy Trax, tools and STUFF. Mid- to Late-September when the temperature falls below 90°, my Chevy Colorado becomes a garbage truck. If I haven't used it in the last year, it's going for a final ride. There are treasures in the garage that I have forgotten, my wife has forgotten, other family members did not want, and are consuming expensive space.

To the OP, from painful family experience, I can assure you that no matter how lovingly you handle the stuff and care for the people involved; you will be criticized to no end. My suggested response would be, "Where were you when help was needed?" You have done your very best, now is the time to have a clear conscience and Cherished memories.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

"You can't take it with you" but "stuff" makes the journey a lot more pleasant.
Being a pack rat/hoarder/accumulator I have brought many others lots of pleasure. 30 or so years ago McDonald's had some tie in merchandise for The Flinstones. A neighbor said her son's mugs had broken, I gave him TWO sets. Cleaned out my coat closet a few years ago, it went to my church's coat drive, I have found sleds, bicycles, computer items, etc. left by the curb. Some I sold, some I gave away.
I have often found memories of things far more pleasant than memories of people.

 

[Yendor357]

that was stupid to throw that rifle away.

Why didn't he just get in his truck, go to town, and buy a cake for her?

Moderation in all things.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have it on good authority that the Pearly Gates Placement Center is a gun-free zone and doesn't have a U-Haul turn in.

 

[Golddollar]

It's just stuff, after all..

But why is it so easy to acquire and so hard to get rid of? The local Rescue Mission has been the beneficiary of my attempt to shake down my house, but my efforts now seem to have ground to a halt.

 

[clipper1]

There are no luggage racks on hearses. This saying fits the conversation here.

 

[Rustyt1953]

A true multi-tasker.

 

[john17427]

I've been through the process the OP describes with parents, siblings, aunts, uncles. I've had to go through and dispose of so much "stuff" I long ago reached the place he describes. You just don't care much about stuff. Maybe it's having to wade through the disposition of so many people's possessions and keepsakes, I don't know. I still have 15 medium home depot boxes of papers to go through someday, but I'm worn out. All of that said, I have my father in laws first deer rifle that I value a great deal and still hunt with on occasion. We spent a lot of time in the woods, working and hunting together over the decades he was with us. He's been gone now close to 15 years, but it lets me feel his presence when I take it to the woods.

 

[45Smashemflat]

On a positive note regarding firearms, I do have younger generations that have an appreciation for family guns. I feel good about handing those down. I've passed some along already.

 

[Rubone]

Stuff, what stuff???

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Not sure how I ended up with 2 sets of McDonald's Flintstones mugs but I made a young fellow happy.
Rudy Vallee was an enthusiastic collector of theater memorabilia, on his passing the theater department of UCLA received his accumulation, they jumped for joy.
Then again, I've know quite a few people who had lousy parents and on their passing threw out anything and everything with their name on it, pictures, etc.

 

[Muddyboot]

I have been slowly thinning out my 88-year-old mothers' things. Sadley at this
point in her life she doesn't even notice all the things I've gotten rid of. The
only things left are the things she can still see. The garage and attic stuff are all
pretty much gone.

 

[greenwellg]

Time before the last move from the first house I built to the last one, the wife says get the pot from the front porch and bring it with you, That's the end of it (the move).
I head over there in my Buick Riviera and grab the last stuff and head back to the new house.
All of a sudden I see ants everywhere in the car. Turns out the last pot was home to an ant hive
Had to bomb the car to get rid of them. Took forever to get the corpses out.
I hauled "empty decorative boxes" at the end of that move.
Never understood the rationale behind moving anything that was empty.
That was 2004. Sold that house May 5th 2022. So we sit on my assets created without pay for almost two decades, while she sucks up retirement income for 10 years those same two decades. I flipped everything from gun parts to yard tools for a pittance of cash. Had close to 100 guns at one time, down to a handful before the last move. Being ready to die is the best insurance.

 

[Kiwi cop]

In 2017 when Karen almost didn't survive her lung transplant I finally learnt that people are more important than "stuff". That doesn't mean I do not appreciate nice things. I like to buy a new car every 20 months or so. The next one due in mid 2026 may very well be the last car I buy. Although I may extend my working life by another 2 years or so, so maybe not . And have bought four new guitars this year alone, for various reasons. But there will soon come a time when this will not be financially possible so I make hay now.

Having cleaned out both my father-in-law's and my mother's properties after their passing, I am astounded by what previous generations keep. well maybe not. In the back of my garage right now are several dozen stone and glass bottles, many dating back to the 1800's. There is also a never used Kirby upright vacuum cleaner and so much else I will need to take a week off to go through it all.

My FIL had a lot of old "collectable" things that were cheap replicas. My mother had a doll collection that only she loved. Both went the way of so many knick nacks, some I kept. They meant something to them, not so much to us.

As for me, one brother and his son have picked out the rifles they want to remember me by. The other brother and nephews will get to pick a guitar each next time they visit. Everything else gets sold (and some of these collections are worth much more than I paid for them) with the money going into a trust for my step-son who has some emotional issues. Hopefully i will clear out the junk for him before hand..

 

[3/4Flap]

OP: Your friend was right.
"Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." Mathew 6:19-21.

 

[biku324]

Mom & Dad have a house full of three prior generations' stuff - I doubt there's a thousand dollars worth of anything. Casinos have sucked them pretty dry financially and my older sister is their executor - I don't envy her.

We have a will and know as best we can where the stuff we have will go.

 

[imashooter2]

We just built a new house and moved after 30 years in our old house. I had no idea we had this much stuff.
Now, I have a lot of hunting and fishing equipment but i could sell that stuff pretty easily if I wanted to (and have sold some) but my wife has tons of absolute crap. I have spent hours and hours boxing up glassware and knick knacks. 4 China cabinets full plus countless shelves. I told her "You know our daughter will throw that crap out."
Nobody under the age of 65 wants that kind of stuff anymore.
She had probably 100 place mats, about half brand new. You would think that we are hosting State dinners at the White House.
I've slowly been thinning my stuff out. I don't want to burden our daughter.

My Mother had 12 formal place settings of Noritake China with serving pieces, covered dishes… the works. It was the envy of her 1950s social circle. When we liquidated the estate in 2015, it was one of the things that no one wanted. Modern families cannot conceive of special plates you break out 3 or 4 times a year. I couldn't bear to give them to a thrift shop or throw them away, so they sit in my attic waiting for my daughter to throw them away when she settles my estate.

 

[Golddollar]

Maybe we should start having regional S&W Forum flea markets to start getting rid of stuff. Of course everybody would have to make sure they don't bring back more than what they sold.

 

[Norton 750]

List that old china on Ebay. The few people that still like china are on there looking for pieces to complete their existing sets and I understand it moves quickly.

 

[3/4Flap]

My Mother had 12 formal place settings of Noritake China with serving pieces, covered dishes… the works. It was the envy of her 1950s social circle. When we liquidated the estate in 2015, it was one of the things that no one wanted. Modern families cannot conceive of special plates you break out 3 or 4 times a year. I couldn't bear to give them to a thrift shop or throw them away, so they sit in my attic waiting for my daughter to throw them away when she settles my estate.

You are right about modern families and IMO that is kind of a shame.
We still do it on gatherings of the family on special feast days. I hope the kids do when we are gone.