I've been casually browsing about for a lawyer recently. No, I'm not headed to court, but I was thinking again that end of life will come, no matter what else does (death and taxes, per Mr. Franklin). And while laws vary around the states, I do have some rather specific feelings about who should inherit from me, who should be making health decisions, what health decisions should be made, etc. So today I sat down with one of the local lawyers and he's drafting a will, medical power of attorney, and financial power of attorney. Not surprisingly, my mother's name features rather prominently on all of those documents.
What this initial process has shown me, somewhat to my surprise, is how little I think any of my stuff will matter when I've died. I have an apartment full of things that are part of my life, but when it gets down to bequeaths, the list is very short. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it does make one take a second look at the "stuff" in our lives. I need to make designations for the yarn stash*, the cat, and some jewelry, but that's about it. My collections of elephants and hedgehogs or the tea pots? Probably not something my siblings want. My books and clothes? Most likely being sold or donated. My excessive number of bottles of lotion from Bath and Bodyworks? I would hope no one keeps those unless they are really enamored of the scents.
I'm hoping to use this as a little motivation to clean out. If no one but me is going to want it, do I really need to keep it around gathering dust? And I'm not talking about things with sentimental value and strong memories attached. No, I'm talking about the lotion or stuff that strikes me as "immediate garage sale" candidates.
If you want one of the elephants or hedgehogs though, let me know.
*stop laughing and consider just how much yarn I've bought in the past three years. Uh huh....designating.
