Here is the hard one: photos, report cards, all of the "familial documentation." I am a technically-only child and will have no children myself. What will I do with these photos of my mother as a young girl? I've no-one to pass them onto.
The great junk transfer is coming
361–370 of 461 posts
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#362Cleaning 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…
Well said. The best strategy is to always just say "Yes, thanks!" whenever they offer you something they do decide to get rid of. My grandma used to bring boxes of junk to family reunions and put it on a free table. My sister and I would always be sure to take almost everything. She felt better that it was getting "used" and we just trashed/donated it as appropriate.
People forget that they kept this "junk" for a reason. When you tell them to get rid of it or call it junk, you are insulting them, not their possession. It doesn't matter that you think their reason is silly. They would think a lot of your stuff is silly too. It is so sad that we've lost (almost ?) all ability for empathy. We have become so selfish and it is sad.
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thank you. The top-level article is unbelievably crass. I have had to deal with this. Sorting through an entire lifetime's worth of knick-knacks, papers, Christmas cards, plaques commemorating achievements and milestones that probably wouldn't even make sense to a twenty-year-old, all of it. Sure, it was hard. It takes time. But so did changing my diapers. And dealing with infant-me crying through the night. And watc…
My mother told me she brought me into the world to experience joy, not her bullsht. When she died she left one small box and $90k. We did not have to do a thing.
Grounded and polite. Love it.
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#364One says "junk transfer" another sees opportunities.
Jewelry likely can be smelted, stones reset in modern settings.
Tools can be refurbished and/or moved into 3rd world markets where things are often repaired.
Ok, trinkets and doilies really are junk, perhaps a handful for movie sets?
Hopefully some bright and hustle style entrepreneurs can find ways to upgrade this junk into the hands that rightfully could use them.
The part I'm particularly hopeful about is more homes coming on the market. Yes they may want for a renovation/updating but think of the multibedrom family homes that grandma is living in housing 1-2 ppl and soon could house a whole family? That's going to be helpful to those currently priced out of the market.
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#365Cleaning 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…
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Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#366Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#367First thing I did was take a bunch of photos. One of the things that had meaning wasn't the individual items, but the assemblage of the whole: the choices made in the arrangement of tools in the workshop, projects being worked on, the "look and feel" of the house. After that I felt I could "disassemble" things without losing too much: in the process getting rid of cruft and keeping other stuff. A big part of the job…
> Can it go out, or is it irreplaceable and belongs to something that matters?
I wonder if there is such a thing as digitizing said keys? Like maybe a 3d scanner could archive it incase you find a mysterious locked box later?
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#368Generational 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…
My generation collects tattoos and IG-able experiences. We'll be easy to clean up after (save for the environmental impact) .
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#369Earlier quoted context omitted.
The son in the article, nine months into the process of clearing his parents' house, estimated he is one-third done. That's a lot of mental and physical work he inherited, or alternatively signed up for.
You can just use a service to take care of the estate, you are not obliged to do that at all.
That's assuming they've got money to pay for it after funeral expenses, et al.
Re: The great junk transfer is coming
#370Earlier 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
The son in the article, nine months into the process of clearing his parents' house, estimated he is one-third done. That's a lot of mental and physical work he inherited, or alternatively signed up for.
I cannot believe it is necessary to be so persnickety about it that it causes you stress and bitterness. Give your siblings a day to grab anything they want, then rent a dumpster and a wheelbarrow and go to town. Throw away everything you can force yourself to, one room a day. Dad's dead, he won't care. If it takes nine months, you're doing it wrong.