Bittersweet

I went to my brother’s place this morning. He’s not there anymore. He died a couple of weeks ago. We all went to his place today. My three other brothers and my dear mother. We went to sort out his stuff. Actually, it was more to sort through his stuff. The cleaners come next week. We went through and kept any family stuff.

We cleaned out his kitchen. We went through his store room. My brother had a book collection in the 1000s. Mostly science fiction. We went through his closets. He had many early editions of Dungeons and Dragons books. We went through his dressers and cabinets. We looked in every drawer and every shelf.

It was surreal. These things were important to my brother. Important enough for him to keep. And now what? We gave each item a glance and if it seemed useful or valuable we offered it around the family.

No one wanted to offend anyone else.

Did you want this?

No, you go ahead.

No, no, if you want it, you should take it.

And if no one wanted it, it simply got piled in an ever increasing pile of old books, out of date computer parts, dishes and various knicknacks.

My brother never married. He was a bachelor his entire life. There were no heirs to consider. Well, I suppose we, his remaining family were his heirs.

It’s a necessary task. The apartment needs to be cleaned and rerented. My brother lived there since 2003. None of the items were extremely valuable. He lived a fairly simple life. Even his car, a 1995 Saturn, will most likely be sold for scrap.

It’s odd to sort through your brothers stuff.

Stay safe

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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