Out of necessity, I had to clean out my elderly mother's home immediately following her passing. To…read moresay I felt overwhelmed would be a huge understatement. Gwynnae came in like an organizational angel and personally led me through the process of sorting, storing, and donating my mother's belongings. To me, of course, it felt like I was touching every part of my mother's long life, including every single book of matches, hotel shower cap and business card (and much, much more) she'd ever laid hands on -- she was quite the pack rat.
Gwynnae stood right there by me for five straight days and helped me shoulder the crushing emotional weight of all the items to sort through, from vintage hats, to out-of-style clothes, to furniture and keepsakes. For whatever reason, these things were important enough to my mother that she choose to hang on to them for all these years. But Gwynnae kept gently asking me the same question, 'Even though your mother had it for so long, how important is it to you now and going into the future?" We used the three-pile sorting system - 1) Keep, 2) Discard/Donate, and 3) Not Sure. The Not Sure option was incredibly helpful, in that it allowed me to have some extra time to reflect upon the sentimental importance of particular items. Most importantly, there was never any judgement or criticism placed on what I deemed important enough to keep.
In the end, it was extremely freeing to decide to donate most of her things, knowing that my mother's legacy would continue, in whatever small way, through the re-use of her items. Gwynnae was also extremely creative in finding buyers for the items with any remote value. She identified a vintage clothes reseller who adored my mother's hats, gave me good money for them, and subsequently ironed and tailored new life into them for others to wear and enjoy. A total victory!
All of my work with Gwynnae and Home Transitions was done with kindness, confidentiality, and a firm but supportive hand to hold during this monumental life transition. I highly recommend her services for whatever organizational projects you may be considering, be it cleaning out your junk drawer or sorting through an estate.
