Categories: uncategorized
Date: 30 September 2004 12:51:13
I've been thinking of blogging some stories from our time with the family for the funeral for a while now. But the stories are just so long and complicated and yet everyday. But the moral of the story is,
You are not your stuff.
We arrived at the house three days after the death. You should have seen this place. It was chockers full of rocks and shells and bits of banksia tree and photos and souveniers, and daggy cups with things like "worlds
biggest tea cup" written on it. And it all had to be cleaned out by the time everyone dispersed to their own rural, interstate or overseas locations.
It was mad. People had no idea where to start. Some were holding onto every single item in the house. I'm sure the original owner would have thrown a lot more out than we did.
How not to clean out your deceased parents estate.
Keep any item that fits into the catorgories below.
1. "It's too good to give away" - stuff like chipped carltonware (good stuff apparently), and any of the 53 crystal bowls.
2. "It has to stay in the family" - anything used by Mum/Dad, like the worlds biggest tea cup (which is not really that big by today's standards)
3. "I remember when..." - Mum would catch the dripping in this cracked saucer
4. "Dad/Mum made it" - like the two bits of plywood used as clipboards, but with no clips
5. "I might use that one day" - like the jar of 100 toothpicks. (I kid you not, they were airfreighted back home with 57 kilos of other stuff that fits into the above catorgories.)
Maybe it's a reflection of the age we live in, but really, if you need toothpicks, go and buy them.