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Downsizing, To Move or Not to Move? That is the Question

Aging Well | Last Active: 14 hours ago | Replies (559)

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

@katgob I have trouble getting attached to "stuff" - I guess being raised possessing little, and watching my Dad literally give food and his own clothing to a passing stranger has always stayed with me. Many beautiful things reside in my home, or have passed through it on the way to other owners, and I am happy to have had them, but glad they are gone. When someone admires something in my home, they often leave with it. Our children and grandchildren don't give us things, they give us shared adventures and help when we need it. We try to do the same.

We live in 400 square feet for half of each year, and it holds everything we need and more. When we travel, we live for weeks at a time in 100 square feet. Many of my friends live permanently in 200-400 square feet, and swear they don't miss being tied to possessions.

When I come home in May to 1200 square feet, it seems enormous, and nearly every summer we spend time deleting possessions to make our eventual demise easier for our kids. When cleaning house, I offer things first to my kids and sister, then it either goes to charity, the local Buy Nothing site, or to people I know will use and appreciate it. My Mom and Dad did the same - all the way from the "big house" where they raised us 6 kids to an efficiency apartment at the end. Mom still had her small hutch, with her most prized pieces, but nearly everything else had already been given to kids, grandkids or charity. In the end, it took 4 of us less than 2 days to take care of everything. That is my goal.

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Replies to "@katgob I have trouble getting attached to "stuff" - I guess being raised possessing little, and..."

@sueinmn: I just stumbled across this conversation and thought of the letsreimagine.org presentation I attended on behalf of an End of Life client some time ago; it's offered on a regular basis with another coming up later this month: https://letsreimagine.org/76768/personal-possessions-sorting-thinning-repurposing-6

I've downsized twice: once when moving from our family home in NJ to AZ and then 5 years ago when my husband and I wanted to move to a more "lock and leave" home so we could travel more. I condensed important memories and papers into a large plastic container labeled Sentimental Items, went through 40+ years of photo albums to remove duplicates, landmark scenes from trips, etc and digitized them giving a memory card to each of my kids and creating a large professional photo box of important memories of my dad when he died. I three items that had been passed down from my mother (two that had been her mother's) but that is it for sentimentality and design purposes. Every year I go through drawers and closets, disposing of items no longer used. It's part of the art of Swedish Death Cleaning which has simplified my life - and ultimately those of my kids in the future.