My lovely Philmore died suddenly over one year ago. It was a horrible situation and the ambulance staff had to cut off his hoodie and vest from his body to connect him to the heart machine. I still had the hoodie and vest in the corner and could not even touch the garments to move them out of sight. Today I had a bad day at first and was crying but then I just took the hoodie and vest, hugged them for a long time and threw them away. Philmore always said to me that I am stronger than I think. Maybe he was right. The next step will be sorting more paperwork, books, clothes etc. I do not need so much anymore and I doubt that his children (who are not in touch with me at all) are interested in his clothes, books etc. My friend - who is not very healthy. alone as well and over 70 years old - even started to throw out her photos from her childhood etc. She said to me that nobody would care for her memories anyway and it is better she clears out everything. I cannot do this at the moment but in a way she is right. I have seen it with a friend of mine. He had no testament and everything went to the skip and his savings went to the German government. I am not rich but I do not want our house to go to the crown, so I have to think about what to do. I also think giving our books to the local library and glasses, clothes can go to the local charity shops. Sending love and hugs to everyone.
I’ve been wondering what to do with my Mothers photos, especially boxes of slides of our family holidays and her trips to China , Russia, India and Egypt with my Pa . When I cleared out Mothers house after she went into a care home I sent a lot of those photos to my sister, as she had offered to sort them out. Now my sister has died too (three days after husband) my brother in law has passed them back to me. There’s no one but me left to be interested in our childhoods or our parents travels. I think I shall have to be ruthless and get rid. But it’s not easy !
Yeh give them to charity but you dont have to give them all away. Keep some as a keepsake of your Philmore - you deserve that! Dont be too hard on yourself …xx
I will not give everything away - I still will keep Thunderbirds, Stingray, a few computer books and magazines and our favourite photos — so many lovely and cherished memories.