My Mom Was Put In Charge Of Organizing My Grandparent’s Estate. And She Made a Huge Mess Of It.

My Mom is a minimalist. For her, this means throwing out everything she can. To some, this makes sense. But it goes too far when one is throwing out antiques or important papers.

She will go on what I call a “cleaning spree” and eliminate anything that annoys her. I have told her a few times to stop doing that and to let me help her declutter.

She usually turns down my help because I tend to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. My grandparents were a big influence on me growing up. As they lived through the Great Depression, they learned how to keep everything.

In the past 10+ years, we have lost my grandparents and their home had to be decluttered. As they tended to keep everything, mostly in their attic and garage, it was a huge undertaking. My mom was put in charge of it, which was a mistake from the beginning.

She is not very sentimental and I knew she would tend to just throw things out. And she did. She rented a big dumpster and anything she couldn’t resell went into it. Including photos, my aunt had been saving for years.

She also did not know the value of things and would sell like the old Murphy chair for a lot less than it was worth.