I can’t believe it’s been two years since I first created 58 and Holding.  The good news is – I’m still 58 and Holding…  The bad news is – my body doesn’t agree with my fantasy.  More about that on another day.

In the last two years, I’ve closed my business (traumatic) and held an estate sale to eliminate all my treasures (even more traumatic), attempted to sell the house holding the aforementioned estate sale (didn’t happen), and established my primary residence in Florida (that’s the good news!)

After living in a house for 40+ years, a person collects things!  Not just your own souvenirs and memories of a life well-lived, but the collections of your most-loved Dearly Departed.  Everyone in my family has been a collector of widely diverse objects and memorabilia.  And, everything was considered too precious to part with – including every greeting card and letter that arrived for the past 100 years.  Letters from Sweden to my grandmother – written in Swedish.  Postcards and greeting cards from my dad to mom dating back to the ’30s.  My birthday cards since year one – often with a $1 bill attached, even a $25 savings bond from the 40s.

Mom came to live with me after she suffered heart issues and never returned to her home.  Her sister, Aunt Mimi, and Uncle Aron previously had come to live with Mom when Mimi was being treated for cancer.  Uncle Aron stayed on after her death.  So they cleaned out Mimi and Aron’s house and moved it to Mom’s. (I was not part of this operation.)  This included lovely china and crystal, kitchenware, boxes of recipes and “how to” articles cut out of newspapers for decades, boxes of clothes set aside for alterations which never took place, buttons, decorative figurines, etc.

When I cleaned out Mom’s (a nightmare), I was also handling the Mimi and Aron collection which hadn’t moved much once it arrived in Mom’s “rec” room, plus all the stuff saved by my Mom that belonged to my Dad, my brother, me, my grandmother, and a cousin who had lived with my folks one year and left his treasures behind.

So you get the idea of this challenge.  Lots of vintage and antiques and stuff from the Dearly Departed along with my treasures from high school through marriage through business and a lot of trips along the way.  I realize I’m rambling but that’s what happens when I think about this past year.

I began this post intending to provide some pointers for downsizing. I apologize for the focus on my own drama.  So let’s move on.  Here are some things I’ve learned:

1. It’s never to soon to empty out those closets or the basement/garage/attic, even if you’re not planning to move for years.  Time slips by quickly.
2. No one wants your stuff!  Your children/grandchildren don’t appreciate your fine china and crystal.  If it isn’t from Pottery Barn, it’s of no interest.  Even the estate-sale-treasure-seekers don’t want your stuff unless it has great value and then they’ll only pay pennies for it.
3. Save pictures, not stuff.  If something has special sentiment, take a picture. Create a photo book or album that documents your favorite things.
4. No regrets!  Once it’s gone, don’t look back.  Even the piano you learned to play as a child – but haven’t touched in 20 years – no longer is a part of your life.  Let it go!
5. Breathe!  You’ve finally lost weight – the weight and worry of storing everyone’s memories as well as your own.  Now you have room to travel through life unencumbered and to bring in new treasures.