I know there is no easy answer, but I'm looking for insights here. I hope those of you who have been through this can share your thoughts.
My parents were divorced years ago, and are both deceased. My Mom died 22 years ago, after a short illness. The family kind of fell apart after her death, and we siblings did the best we could to take care of her affairs, which she hadn't had time to arrange ahead of time. Furniture and valuables were divided up, the house sold, and whatever else was required to take care of things happened soon after her passing. None of that is what I'm asking about.
My older sister ended up with "Mom's trunk." It is a large storage box, a homemade thing her brother made her from spare wood many years ago. It's about three feet long, two feet wide and high, and weighs a ton. It is filled with papers and various items, the things Mom felt were important to her. School programs, old photos, newspaper articles, anonymous locks of baby hair, and whatever else - you name it. It's the collection of those things mothers hang onto. She knew what everything was, but virtually none of it has meaning to we four siblings. The trunk has been sorted through a number of times, and anything of known or sentimental value has been removed. What's left is the rest of it. None of it is junk, but all of it is just "stuff" to us.
Sis is trying to downsize her living situation, and texted me two days ago to say she is delivering Mom's trunk to me today. (I wasn't asked, I was TOLD. I'm sure after all these years, Sis is tired of dealing with it.) I presume it will also include the several other boxes of things that are too large to fit in the trunk, and it's all going to take up space. I don't have room inside the house, so will initially put it in the garage.
But then what? Do I just close my eyes and throw it away? Do I divide it up into even more boxes, and store it even longer? Do I tell my two brothers that I'm delivering it to their houses in two days, like my sister is doing to me?
And then, I also already have my Dad's things. As I mentioned, my parents were divorced, and both had remarried. Both of those spouses are also deceased. As the oldest son, I was executor of my Dad's estate, and I have several similar boxes of his things, that have already been stored at my house since his passing 12 years ago.
What do I do with this stuff?
Dave