Downsizing

I was recently contacted by a long-time client and asked if I could pack up his mother’s home and arrange for everything to be donated. His mother was recently involved in an accident and sustained a head injury resulting in her having to permanently move to an assisted living facility. I agreed to meet my client at Mom’s home to assess the project.

Mom’s home was a lovely 3-bedroom, 2-1/2 bath house with a full basement and garage located in Anne Arundel County. What I found was a home filled to capacity with years of accumulation – clothing, bedding items, table linens, kitchenware, china, crystal, knick-knacks, throw pillows, lamps, picture frames and photo albums, family photos, vinyl records and a lot of memorabilia. The garage contained a bank of six old metal 5-drawer file cabinets filled with a combination of food, cleaning supplies, and lawn chemicals, as well as overflow from the house. Mom was a compulsive shopper – online purchases, yard sales, thrift stores, the mall – she was a bargain enthusiast to say the least.

For his part, my client was feeling overwhelmed. He exhibited frustration and anger as he told me of how he and his siblings tried for years to get Mom to curb her shopping habit and pare down the possessions. And now they were left to deal with the “mess” as he put it.

I brought in another organizer to assist with the project. We went room by room and began separating the “wheat from the chaff”. Items to be donated were bagged or boxed and marked accordingly. Trash was placed on the rear deck.

Once everything was packed and bagged, I called my client to let him know we were ready to move to the next phase. In the end, over 3,000 pounds of trash and debris had been hauled way and two Amvets trucks were needed to remove the donations.

My client was finally able to let go of his years of frustration and anger.

To read more on the topic of helping seniors downsize and organize check out:

Don’t Toss My Memories in the Trash: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Seniors Downsize, Organize, and Move by Vickie Dellaquila

Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate Workbook: A guide to Passing on Personal Possessions by Marlene S. Stum

The Boomer Burden: Dealing with Your Parents’ Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff by Julie Hall