Lessons from the Queen of Organization and Downsizing — Mom!
Let me remember them when my time comes
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I need to downsize.
Not that I’m about to move into a smaller place. But if I wait until I need to, it’ll be an overwhelming task.
Logic dictates that if I do a little every week, when the time comes, it won’t be so daunting. I’ve been telling myself this regularly. For years.
My mom’s a great role model
When she was in her mid-80s, she moved into a smallish one-bedroom apartment in a lovely assisted living high-rise in Columbus, Ohio.
She got organized. She was methodical. She had a plan.
She took a friend with a bent for interior decoration to visit the empty unit. This friend drew a rough blueprint of the apartment. When they got back to Mom’s place — Mom’s huge three-bedroom place — she noted which pieces of furniture could go where. And which ones would have to go bye-bye.
The buffet could stay, but the long white credenza in the living room, along with the couch, had to go. So, too, the double bed she slept on with my dad. Not a huge deal since she’d been using an adjustable hospital bed for years. My sister and I slept in the big bed when we visited.
She found an estate sale guy who came over and assessed all the furniture and valuable stuff she wouldn’t be taking. He offered her four thousand dollars for the whole lot. One thousand of that was for her good silver.
She was thrilled.
