Follow your gut

I save such things.

You could keep a photographic record, people lives go down the tip, which in some sense is sad, maybe hang on for a while, You may feel different in a few months, all the best.

Yes. It is difficult emotionally, but your life should be a blend of old and new

Your Mom's possessions are a gift, but must be used as best for you.

Keep what you wish, and that you value.

Can you keep the most important amd then make pictures of the things you are tossing and make a digital remembrance file or possibly cut some of it up amd use it in your new art creativity?

I really wish I had more pictures/videos of my children as they were growing up. I was always on the field or court coaching them, so not many pictures. WONDERFUL memories, but not as many pictures as I would like.
Your heart can decide which are the important ones to save and cherish. Passing some of them down to your son.

Save as much as you can, you will enjoy looking through in 20yrs time

Save some that evoke special memories, throw the rest away. Life is all about editing

I have no keepsakes

Is scanning the pics to convert them to digital copies an option ?

Aw I so relate to this.
I've become quite fond of NOT looking at old pictures. They collect dust. It's just sad reminders of what is not and never will be again. They don't really serve a purpose to me. I've actually thrown quite a few away.

Go with your heart. And maybe save just a few for his sake.

I am at the same cross roads in life since my wife has passed. Her sisters don't want her clothes even. So my recourse is throwing it all away or giving it all to the Goodwill store. It seems the store is going to get a lot of stuff. Your choice?

I am a sentimental person, but I usually base these decisions on what role the person played in my life and how much they meant to me. If you don't have the space to keep it all, keep the ones that hold special memories.

I'd only keep what had a special meaning to me, the rest I'd give to charity. We cannot just keep every single item

Put it all in a box. One day, may be many years from now, you will be happy you kept it

I'm very choosy about what I keep. If it has strong and positive memories, will keep as long as I have a place for it. I might have one storage bin and that's it. One of those things I'll pull out every now and then. If it isn't of personal or monetary value, I'll take a photo of it and dispose. If it's worth $$ I'll photo and sell.

This is a dilemma for many of at a certain time in our lives. The desire to keep something of our loved ones for remembrance is normal and I have one thing each from aunts and uncles for a reminder of their lives and love. It's my parents' things which, like you, are the issue. All the 'things' (clothes, ornaments, kitchen utensils etc) have been distributed or given to charity (or the recycling centre). Now I am left with documentation (passports, newspaper cuttings, diplomas, letters and poems, birth certificates etc) which reveal things we did not fully know in their lives as well as many photographs some of which are repetitive and some of which we have no idea were they were taken, but it is a record of their lives and the family history.

Who cares? Probably only close family just now, but one day curious grandsons and granddaughters may become curious and be disappointed if it was all thrown away.

I’ve lived with my mom who kept little stuff in our house and it’s horrible. I hate seeing pics of me on the walls. It’s so weird.
Now that I’m an adult, I try to keep our home clean and clutter free. I hate seeing many stuff on the kitchen counter. I don’t like weird diy handicrafts (sorry) I only have 4-5 pics displayed I guess in our house.

My son tends to have some drawings, paintings etc from school but I always throw most of them after a month. 😅

No

You will probably regret throwing those away as you get older.

You can whittle it down to keepsakes that have more meaning to others especially if you don't have the space
Pics and documents can be scanned and put onto thumb drive
All depends on your relationship with the person and how close you were

For the pictures you could scan them in and make a digital scrapbook to be printed. I think there are even phone apps where you can scan the photos.

For her pieces of art I would select the most important pieces you like to keep.

You can’t keep it all, that’s not realistic since I know you want to move and you travel lightly.

I know you feel like you are throwing her kid away but you can’t get burdened with all of the stuff either.

I think you should keep some, maybe let you son pick out some things.

{@copperfox420] can understand where you are coming from pictures are nice memories and can be but in albums for future

Are you ever going to do anything with it, like set up a tribute site to your mom, or write a biography of her, or just pull them out so you can share memories of his grandmother with your son?

If you don't have any interest in doing stuff like that, toss it out. Your memories of her will live with you for the rest of your life.

Some are. Some aren't. Someone's family heirloom is another person's piece of junk.

Have you been going through any of this stuff with your son?
Has he expressed a desire to keep any of it?
What kind of person is he shaping up to be... is he one to be sentimental with his older toys even if he doesn't play with them or is he pretty chill about shedding things he's grown out of.


I'm realizing in my own life my kid is of the latter type and even though she's only 11, I can already gage she doesn't really want much of the sentimental stuff I've held on to. Knowing this had helped me cull a tiny bit but I know it needs to be a lot more.

Keep a few

When I move I lose all sense of sentimentality.

Ive gotten rid of 100 year old cookbooks of my great grandmothers, paintings my father has painted me, my holly hobby oven ( or science experiment encourager, you didn’t ahve to only cook food in those!), baby shoes, I finally let myself get rid of my kids artwork from grade school ( all teh paper was getting soggy in the box)

I used to get so. Upset that y dad would throw out our lives when he would go on one of his cleaning rampages through the house where he threw everything away. He set fire to our family photos.

I think you can feed the need for sentimental items. Or you can do away with them and it’s fine. Occasionally im sad about things, like the pictures. But its just stuff.