working at dad's house and sorting through things

jen ht

Hello dear ones,

We're going to dad's to work on things at his house beginning tomorrow. This time my spouse is joining me, thankfully. It's a buddy system task, for sure. I think it was HB who explained it as a uniquely sad task. Agreed. And several of you mentioned having someone with me if possible when I posted about my many tears.

I would welcome your insights or advice about this process if something comes to mind that you'd like to share with me.

We are preparing the house to not have an occupant and to be storm ready - like clearing freezer and frig so we can unplug them and turning off water and water heater, etc. We hope to stage things for what to give away, sell, dispose of, recycle and finally what to move here.

Earlier I couldn't do some of this because… well, I guess I wasn't fully convinced that he wouldn't be needing these things again sometime in the future. Sounds ridiculous as I type it out now. He clearly cannot come home. But knowing he wants to so badly was blocking me from being able to do what I needed to do. I was only able to do the really obvious things like recycle the 15 plastic dog treat jugs and clear out some of the MANY bottles he had filled with water in case of a hurricane and purge the piles of junk mail and scammer mail that had accumulated.

Anyway, this is getting long.

Thank you for your words of wisdom.

May we be well. 💜

~jen

SusanB-dil

oh, my - I'm glad you are not doing this by yourself.

Agree to section off things - such as 'recycle', 'trash', 'give-away', etc. When you do unplug the appliances, make sure you leave the doors open just a bit.

And then there will be the sentimental. If you really can't let something go, or think you will regret it if you do, then put that item on hold for now. If it is something you can let go, but want to remember - take pictures.

jen ht

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/216108#Comment_216108

So true SusanB. That sentimental part can sure throw me for a loop. Sometimes out of the blue. Good advice here. Thanks so much. The grief sure does come in waves (for me, anyway)

H1235

It my understanding that there can be some issues with home insurance for a home that is setting unoccupied. Might be something for you to look into. We have an interior light on a timer and exterior solar lights. We (it’s really just me, I’m not getting much help) are getting ready for our first estate sale now(hoarder home). I’m not even sure if it’s going to be worth it to try and sell things. After months of setting up tables, getting things around and pricing things. I have already gone through the house and got rid of the food( most anyway, just found a cookie tucked away on a shelf) and thrown a lot in the trash. We decided to do easy stuff first. We are not even thinking about any of the antiques or family heirlooms. It is so overwhelming! Good luck.