Slightly OT...
My mother's sister died after a long illness, she lived in a clean, well maintained, but typically cluttered "old lady's flat"
Recently my mother had taken her to Scotland as a "last visit" to relatives and their birth place and had discussed "who got what" when she died. A list was compiled of relatives and specifc items
There were several family heirlooms, some school photos and some jewellery that my mother was promised, nothing valuable financially, but of sentimental value.
The eventual death was a sudden bout of pneumonia, so unexpected. My Mother did not feel that approachingthem at the funeral or immediately afterwards, and to leave it a couple of weeks before discussing the lists.
Last week before she did this she had a phone call form her nephew saying that they had a house clearance firm in, but retained some stuff they knew her sister would want her to have.
They arrived and gave her a zimmer frame and a pair of walking sticks as they would be "useful" as she go older.
All the family stuff is with a firm, and we are now going through the process of tracing and buying from them the items she wanted in the first place. Some has already been tipped, burnt or sold. The photos amongst them.
She regrets not being more forward.
I suppose the message is two-fold.
1. Ensure your house is in order if you want stuff to go in a particular direction
2. If you really want something then sometimes you have to "bite the bullet" and make it clear.
My mother's sister died after a long illness, she lived in a clean, well maintained, but typically cluttered "old lady's flat"
Recently my mother had taken her to Scotland as a "last visit" to relatives and their birth place and had discussed "who got what" when she died. A list was compiled of relatives and specifc items
There were several family heirlooms, some school photos and some jewellery that my mother was promised, nothing valuable financially, but of sentimental value.
The eventual death was a sudden bout of pneumonia, so unexpected. My Mother did not feel that approachingthem at the funeral or immediately afterwards, and to leave it a couple of weeks before discussing the lists.
Last week before she did this she had a phone call form her nephew saying that they had a house clearance firm in, but retained some stuff they knew her sister would want her to have.
They arrived and gave her a zimmer frame and a pair of walking sticks as they would be "useful" as she go older.
All the family stuff is with a firm, and we are now going through the process of tracing and buying from them the items she wanted in the first place. Some has already been tipped, burnt or sold. The photos amongst them.
She regrets not being more forward.
I suppose the message is two-fold.
1. Ensure your house is in order if you want stuff to go in a particular direction
2. If you really want something then sometimes you have to "bite the bullet" and make it clear.
