I've helped clean out a few homes. All but one had housed relatives, and that was OK. Sad but also nostalgic.
But when we bought a house with contents, sold by the estate, that was just plain grim. They had no children, and a distant relative had inherited. They first held an estate sale, for the most valuable stuff. And we got the rest. With price tags :(
But damn. Clothes. Personal papers. Photos. Home movies. It was overwhelming. But much of that, I admit, was projection. In that I have no children, either ;)
Actually, I burned it all. This was a rural property. So I just went old-school, with a large steel drum, with holes punched around the bottom. And then buried the ashes. We did a little ceremony.
I did keep some stuff. That old pair of scissors that I've mentioned. Some antique tools.
But when we bought a house with contents, sold by the estate, that was just plain grim. They had no children, and a distant relative had inherited. They first held an estate sale, for the most valuable stuff. And we got the rest. With price tags :(
But damn. Clothes. Personal papers. Photos. Home movies. It was overwhelming. But much of that, I admit, was projection. In that I have no children, either ;)