Family Heirlooms, Objects, and Miscellanea

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

How much is too much? I realize that is dependent upon space, value, and the like but I'm feeling a little stuck so what are some guidelines that you all or your spouses use to determine when to let something go, sell it, or whatever?

Back story spoilered for the TL/DR crowd:

Spoiler

Both my spouse and I have no living parents. My mother passed prior to the pandemic and she was the sole remaining grandparent to our children for a number of years. My older brother lives in the same state as where the family home was and he took on handling the estate. Some of that took a little longer than expected, so he put a number of possessions in storage. Then the pandemic hit and although the estate was settled, we still needed to all get together to help go through things so we could cancel the storage.

We visited this summer to do that and ended up bringing back boxes of things. My mom did a lot of work on the family history and she had very carefully boxed up and labeled some of her and my dad's papers, baby clothes, quilts, photos, knickknacks, and so on. No one else wanted the genealogy stuff. Now that it's back at our place, it's a bit overwhelming and I'm having some difficulty knowing what to do with it. Both my parents grew up in extreme poverty and so every possession was prized. We didn't have a lot growing up, so I guess I share some of that although I wouldn't say I am a hoarder. We moved too much to hoard--moving is expensive so it's pretty easy to dial that down to cost to move vs. cost to keep.

The problem is our children are not finished with their schooling and thus aren't settled where I can say, 'hey, would you like to have this?' and that makes it a little harder to just toss some of the things my parents valued and certainly some of the work she did tracing the family ancestors.  Haha, okay, maybe I'm a little bit sentimental about objects.

Our home is not large, but I don't like clutter so this is causing me some angst and a little depression. After having settled and sorted through the lives of many departed  loved ones, we don't want to burden our children when our time approaches. How to decide?

Thanks in advance.

[conVINCEd 21477]

My sister got hammered at my parents house a few years ago, and insisted that we split up the big ticket household items on the spot.  That actually worked out really well and will make whenever that day comes a little easier. There are a few pieces of furniture she likes, and a few I like, and it split down the middle almost perfectly.  YMMV.  Her MIL has 5 storage units storing all of her parent’s shit that they never use.  We will take what we want from the house, which aside from the furniture will fit comfortably in the back of an SUV, and then have an estate sale.

[TeeDubya 3362]

I don't have good answers, but wanted to say, I'm sorry about the passing of your mother.

One thing to consider too:  your kids, when they're young adults will likely move many times as they become established in their careers.  

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Thank you. Yes, that has been some of the dilemma. Our oldest is in California and yes, will likely take some years to get established.

The family did have an estate sale for the furniture and my older brother is still deciding if he wants to sell all my Dad’s guns. There was no drama with anything; if anyone mentioned desiring something I was more than happy to NOT have to decide to be honest. 
 

 

[CooterBrown 18288]

I’m not a believer in family heirlooms. You’re always one generation from all that shit getting dumped at Goodwill.

[conVINCEd 21477]

19 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Thank you. Yes, that has been some of the dilemma. Our oldest is in California and yes, will likely take some years to get established.

The family did have an estate sale for the furniture and my older brother is still deciding if he wants to sell all my Dad’s guns. There was no drama with anything; if anyone mentioned desiring something I was more than happy to NOT have to decide to be honest. 
 

 

Didn’t read the spoilered content.  Very sorry about your mom.  As the only male descendant when my grandfather died,  I got all of the guns.  I’m not really a gun guy, so I have thinned the herd over the years by giving some of them to his great grandchildren when it became age appropriate, and I have sold a few.  I’ve kept the ones we used on the few occasions we hunted together.  What was 15-20 is now 4, which is more than I need, but I’m not letting those go.  They are nice guns that get fired every other year.

[ROFL BOX 6655]

I’m not a believer in family heirlooms. You’re always one generation from all that shit getting dumped at Goodwill.

I have my Grandfather's Ike jacket from the PTO in WW2, complete with the Ruptured Duck & that will be going to my Son.

I started a similar thread about this same topic prob. 1½ years ago & a lot of responses came back about various heirloom guns with sentimental value & where those would eventually end up.

ArmyBrat discussed the tree branch he used to club Mrs. Brat for their engagement back in the Paleolithic era.

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[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

That's a wonderful item to pass to your son. Sorry that I didn't see the other thread, I would've bumped it instead.

It just gets a little overwhelming to sort through the belongings. Especially since my father and both my in laws passed away somewhat younger--just past retirement--and the children were quite small and have little to no memory.

I think my brother has also gotten the weapons down to a manageable number. Before she passed, my mother had done a little of that. He's trying to figure out what Dad's uncle's Luger from the war is worth. It has all the parts (I think) but it's from 1940, so they probably made a lot of them. The S&W 357 was kind of cool, too because the handle is wood and it just looks badass. I don't remember what year, probably pre-1970s, but I don't know weapons all that well. Dad didn't think women should shoot them so I've only seen them and the first time to handle them was after he passed away.

[ROFL BOX 6655]

Get some pics (including serial #) of the guns (Luger especially) & post them here.

I'm certain we have some readers that can identify some stuff.

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[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I'll see what he's got for photos when I talk to him next.