When families reach out to us to handle an Estate Sale to help them through the removal of the contents of a house that their loved one left behind, this is about much more than just selling the stuff. It is so charged with emotions, emotions of loss, the emotions of the memories they all shared in that home, and the things that are in it.
So often, those emotions cripple their attempts to do it themselves, each memory found starts the cycle all over again. The things that were such a part of the loved one lost, but not something that they have room for in their own homes, but the guilt of not honoring it can truly overwhelm. Our job is to provide a buffer to allow those memories to be honored, but not so raw.
Often when doing an Estate Sale, friends and neighbors of the person's estate come in, tell stories about their own memories and just want something to carry those memories on in their own homes and honor those relationships. Sometimes it feels like a Divine hand is involved in bringing in just the right person to cherish those things most treasured by the former owner.
We recently had the honor of doing the Estate of a multi-talented woman, an artist, a historian, and avid collector of historic things and so much more. She had an amazing collection of Victorian era furniture and clothing, as well as recreating that clothing for historic theatrical reenactments. I must admit, I was concerned how we would find the right homes for these wonderful items. The sale was a huge success, but one of the highlights was a young woman walking in who just lit up like a child seeing the presents under the Christmas Tree when she saw one of the Victorian dresses displayed. She is a seamstress at a local museum that specializes in that time frame. She is an actress at their reenactments and is going to school in that field. She ended up with much of the clothing as well as the dress patterns.
Not surprisingly several of the amazing antique furniture pieces were left behind, while beautiful, not practical in a modern home, but we were able to find a small local museum that was thrilled to have them for their collection. It was truly an honor to serve this family and to serve her memory by helping those things she cherished find homes where they would continue to be cherished going forward.