These are wonderful experiences, thoughts and feelings we are sharing.

I'm seeing there is a relation between down-sizing, decluttering and grieving.

As long as we are here, we will need to continue our journeys through life, and we all struggle at times to discern between what really helps us and what is just excess baggage.

It's not easy! Some of those memories, even the sad ones, give our lives richness, and we need to find ways to treasure them.

I'll be starting my memory book, a large ring binder to hold photos and memory documents and papers. I look forward to organizing my memories, and expect I can reduce at least one box to one large notebook.

I'd like no share a little story:
Many years ago my father gave me a coat.
He said "I don't want you to be cold."
For my father, this was a very tender thing to say, and I secretly loved that coat, thinking of him when I put it on.
My father died and eventually the coat wore out beyond repair.
I bought a coat that looked similar and began to call it "The new coat my father gave me."
That coat finally wore out, and I now have a new "surrogate" coat from my father.
Sometimes when I put it on, I think "This is how my father hugged me."
So, I let the worn out coat go, but I'm keeping the love.