It's taken me 8 months to clear Mum's old apartment.
I live 5 hours away by car and I'm usually too exhausted to drive down at the weekend. Those weekends I could spare I've usually visited Mum in her new place rather than get on with this job.
But now it's done. All I have to do is call a handyman to come and touch-up some woodwork in the bathroom, replace the stained carpet there, get the place professionally cleaned, and then I can put it on the market.
Mum was living in this flat for 6 years but you wouldn't know it. She refused to have pictures on the walls, preferring to stack family portraits beside the boiler in the hall cupboard. Maybe she found blank walls soothing. Maybe they mirrored the growing blankness within.
6 years ago, I can remember being annoyed by what seemed Mum's meekness, her wish not to disrupt the authority of the plasterwork. Now I'm grateful that I don't have to have the place redecorated for sale.
Thanks for making it easier for me, Mum.
4 comments:
Congratulations on clearing up the place finally. I remember I had to clean up my parent's place after they left Vancouver. It wasn't fun and at some points it was very difficult to throw away stuff that doesn't belong to you. Bravo!
That's so true. When my Dad died, it was very difficult to dispose of things that he'd evidently hoarded through the years. Maybe I should have opened a "Museum of Airline Wash-kits 1950-1999", but instead I threw them all away, feeling guilty and furious at the same time.
What? Your parents didn't clear their own place?
Congrats on getting that accomplished. I still have stuff in storage that I just haven't been able to deal with.
I admire your courage & you have motivated me to do it - one day soon.
Thank you for your kind words, Pablo. It's nice to know I've motivated someone. Take your time, if you need to. Finishing up that task will bring a lot back and you have to be ready to deal with the emotions aroused. Best Wishes.
Greg
Post a Comment