241–250 of 461 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone who owns a house fills it with what other people call junk.
That's a good argument for living in a small place rather than a house as big as you can possibly afford.
Is it just me or is that article written by, and this thread full of, assholes? Your parents are dead and you’re complaining about having to sort through their stuff and deal with their horrible taste in furniture? If you don’t want to deal with it have it all collected and sent to landfill and get on with your life. I’m genuinely surprised at how miserable and selfish sounding a lot (not all) of the people in this t…
It's a bit of a cognitive dissonance yes but I do not think they are assholes as you said. They were clearly attached to the items and in essence they people those items once shared the connection. Having strong emotions is not a bad thing, you need to see over the petty complaining. Quote from the article: "Sons and daughters who have faced the chore describe wrestling with how to do it properly, respectfully and fa…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see what the big deal is to be honest, just a harmless hobby to collect random trinkets, it gives people joy, and you can just get rid of it when they die. I don't see what the harm is
Opportunity cost is high. Acquiring the trinkets in the moment feels great but leads to long term challenges.
When FiL passed away there were multiple buildings on their 50 acres full of stuff. Both he and MiL were only children. Everything over 200 yrs had flowed to them. “Priceless heirlooms” weren’t of interest to anyone. Auctions led to junk dealers. There is a hopelessness in realizing that lifetimes of activity were of little value, that nobody even knew what many objects were. I felt like the girl in the movie Labyrin…
I feel a bit that way about my life’s accumulation of books. I suspect that the vast majority will end up getting donated to the library book sale after I die (plenty of worn and ancient paperbacks). I have made a point of pre-segregating the books that will likely have a notable resale value, but those are not many. Perhaps when I’m older but not too old I may spend some time trying to connect some of the specialize…
Somethings do get passed on.
Cleaning up after your parents is a gift you give to them: look at it like them paying it forward for all the times the cleaned up after you as a child. Psychologically, mentally, and physically, parents can have difficulty tidying up their stuff. My friend’s parents came from very poor backgrounds and had a lot of trash. The father had a shed full of stuff that was useful to him - he knew what was in it and how to u…
Seriously could not finish the opening story. I understand a small tinge of disdain for the effort required, but surely deep down a sense of gratitude and nostalgia should be mixed in no? Do people really not have no love for their parents they inherited the belongings of? The fact of the inheritance occuring is a hint that we're already filtering for kids who did not have an amiable relationship with their parents,…
Sure, you might bear it willingly out of that love, but you don't have to like a new tedious, dirty, frustrating project just because you love(d) the person who left it to you.
To take it a step further, the junk is usually a result of your loved one's insecurities and fears. It's largely a reminder of a burden you wish they hadn't even had to carry. Now that you have to carry the results of it, it makes sense just to want to be rid of it all.
Is it just me or is that article written by, and this thread full of, assholes? Your parents are dead and you’re complaining about having to sort through their stuff and deal with their horrible taste in furniture? If you don’t want to deal with it have it all collected and sent to landfill and get on with your life. I’m genuinely surprised at how miserable and selfish sounding a lot (not all) of the people in this t…
I found out overnight my dad passed away. Here's the thing - I might come here and post some thoughts about the big clutter horde at his place that'll need to be sorted out. I'm certainly not coming here to talk about how I feel about my dad passing away. Because.. why would I do that? Who are you people to me? Who am I, or my dad, to any of you? It would be pretty weird to do the latter, not the former. One is a sha…
You're saying it's NOT relatable that your dad died and you're sad, but it is relatable that your dad died and left behind a mess?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone who owns a house fills it with what other people call junk.
That's a good argument for living in a small place rather than a house as big as you can possibly afford.
Is it just me or is that article written by, and this thread full of, assholes? Your parents are dead and you’re complaining about having to sort through their stuff and deal with their horrible taste in furniture? If you don’t want to deal with it have it all collected and sent to landfill and get on with your life. I’m genuinely surprised at how miserable and selfish sounding a lot (not all) of the people in this t…
I found out overnight my dad passed away. Here's the thing - I might come here and post some thoughts about the big clutter horde at his place that'll need to be sorted out. I'm certainly not coming here to talk about how I feel about my dad passing away. Because.. why would I do that? Who are you people to me? Who am I, or my dad, to any of you? It would be pretty weird to do the latter, not the former. One is a sha…
The experience of disposing of accumulated junk was very cathartic, and has led us to both reduce accumulation of more junk and look critically at what we still have. We're not close to death (I hope!) but we've left things in a much tidier state for the kids when we do go.
Generational differences in tastes will take its toll on some of this more than other bits. I don't know anyone under the age of 40 who cares one bit about fine china and china cabinets. As more and more people who collected china die off, there's a bigger glut of it. Collections that took a lifetime and thousands of dollars to accumulate end up going for pennies at estate sales while the cabinets end up in a landfil…
Pianos don't age well. Antique pianos either need an incredible amount of money spending on them to restore or they are furniture at best. Most pianos were cheap when new and are worth negative money once they are old.
I sold some shares (stock)in 1993 for around $8000. I bought the best PC I could get with about $3500 (a 488DX66 with 8MB RAM...). I bought my wife a 30 year old Yamaha U3 upright piano for about $4000. (It was built the same year I was born).
We still have the U3 (I just looked and they are worth about $7K now). I think it is overdue for a tune but it still has that beautiful near Grand piano tone.
The PC and the next one and the next one I bought are all in in landfill or melted down somewhere.