What to bring

[indigo_rose99]

Death in the family?  Discover you are executor to an estate?  Friend of the executrix, and you are being taken up on your offer to help?   Family, come to clear out the house with the best of intentions?

This will be useful.  The question is, what should you bring? 

* pickup truck -- Even if you are only taking trash out or boxes of stuff to be donated.  Trucks are useful!
* truck tie downs
*  truck cargo net
*  large trash bags -- Do not count on the house having enough. 
*  packing boxes
*  moving blankets
*  box tape
*  painters tape
*  duct tape
*  a permanent marker
*  post it note pad
*  empty file folders -- I have found that in the last 10 years of a long life, everyone falls down on their filing.  Someone will be stuck with organizing the masses of paperwork tucked in nooks and crannies. 
*  a paper shredder -- the tougher, the better.  A paper shredder is useful even if the house already has one.  These can get overheated and being able to switch out to the one you brought can be really handy.
*  a rudimentary tool kit  -- at least some screw drivers and something sharp.
*  work gloves
*  clothes you don't mind getting dusty/dirty
*  knee pads if there might be  kneeling
*  enough food bars to replace 2 meals a day
*  and a huge sense of humor --  This is hard, but so handy!  Death is never funny, but cleaning is often exhausting and makes everyone crabby.  Humor and silliness are a huge relief.

As I read over this list, I realize that it works almost as well for helping a friend move.

Comments

[reedrover]

Thank you. I just marked this as a memory so that I'll have it handy in the event...

I'm hitting the friendly skies this evening to help my grandparents move into assisted living, so I'll try to take notes for a similar post.

A combo-thing that you might include on your list is a white board, dry-erase markers, and a place to put it so that anyone helping out in a different vehicle or running different errands knows who is where, what is going on, and when/what is lunch/dinner/meal.

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of a white board. There has never been one available,and I haven't had space to bring one.... But I like it. Especially when you are talking more than 5 people working on the house at a time.... Wow. Really handy. List next meal time, proposed food places, who wants to request what. Current tasks in progress. To-do list of tasks unassigned to a person. Address of local donation place. Time of next pickup truck going to donation place. Where to pile all items for next donation run.

Good luck with your grandparents. Sometimes it is tougher to clean and throw away as ruthlessly as you really need to when they are still alive. You keep feeling like you want to ask, "What about this? Should we keep this for you?" This past week I kept having to remind myself and my brothers, "If you pick up something Make A Decision About It. Do NOT just put it down again. EVERYTHING you touch should go in one of limited categories." For us, the categories were: trash, shred, Goodwill, pack to keep for a designated individual.

[reedrover]

Grandma and Grandpa are both still alive, so the Make a Decision is going in three stages.

Stage 1: Moving with them or not
Stage 2: Stored for their heirs or not
Stage 3: Claimed by their heirs or not

Timeline for things not moved and not claimed = 1 year. My parents are willing to deal with things in storage for one year. If it has not been claimed by next April, it will be donated to the nearest charity.

If it moves with them, the clock stops until they die or move again.

If it does not move with them and is not for heirs, then it goes into your piles above: trash, shred, donate. DONE.

I look forward to showing Mom what basic brutal decision-making looks like. I have a clipboard and a marker and I'm not afraid to use them.

[ovrclokd.livejournal.com]

somebody has to be willing to triage. often, it's hardest for the people closest to the stuff - which is often the ones who own it and the ones who grew up with it. it's good that your family has you. *hug*

[ovrclokd.livejournal.com]

my (94-year-old) grandfather just got out of the hospital for the 3rd time in as many months - he and grandma are finally giving up the two-bedroom apartment they've had for the last couple decades and moving into an assisted living facility. i've been pretty insulated from the whole situation - my family drama has found its current equilibrium with my mom handling the grandparents and me dealing with my sister. but i'm bookmarking this, just in case.

also, *giant hug* sorry i'm late in catching up on LJ...