When we had to move my mother-in-law out of the house she and her husband purchased to be near us, we were almost overwhelmed. OK, we were. After my father-in-law died, we thought my mother-in-law was grieving because of her actions. She had dementia. Anyway, the first step for her was independent living which did not last long and then it was assisted living so fewer pieces of furniture and art work went with her. We could hardly make ourselves go into the house and work every day. Finally, we had friends come help us and choose anything they wanted after we selected a few items. It was great to see them go home with things they could use. Then we rented a storage unit for almost everything else, but only after we had a local thrift shop come and get loads of stuff. They are a wonderful shop and use the money to help people get back on their feet by giving them a place to stay and also teaching budgeting skills. We brought too much home with us. We are still working on that, but made room for more stuff by giving away things from Nana. We had a set of dishes from Nana with a 12-piece place setting with every bowl and serving piece imaginable. We decided to give all of that to a couple who loved old-fashioned dishes with pink roses rimmed in gold. That eliminated lots of boxes. Then we decided to give Nana's silver ware to the same couple. We had not used any of it and were so happy this couple wanted everything. The final step in the in-laws' house was a call to 1.800.gotjunk. Two nice young men showed up with a truck and cleaned out the basement and the garage. They told my husband they try to recycle everything. There were lots of good tools and so much more. Since we still had art work on the walls, my husband asked the young men if they would like to select a piece. They did and we removed the rest. A friend helped us clean and the house sold within a week. What a relief! Now it is time for the two of us to get serious about all the stuff we no longer need. We have no children so nobody wants anything. We might check with our friends again, but most of them are full up, also. What a long post. We are struggling! @joybringer1

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