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describes the emotional toll of downsizing he discovered while helping his mother.
In my entire adult life, I’ve lived in an apartment. I never had children and had no desire to be burdened with a house and all that owning one required. I’m the only one in my family who has never owned a home, and this diminished my value in their eyes. If everyone were meant to be a homeowner, everyone would do it.
I’m 67 and my husband is 77. I will likely outlive him and continue living in the 2-bedroom apartment we’ve occupied since 1998. Unless I die here, I’ll have to move into a one-bedroom senior residence apartment. A worse alternative is that I’d become suddenly ill and be moved to a chronic care facility.
At that point, someone will have to dispose of all the stuff surrounding me here. The less they need to deal with and dispose of, the smaller their burden. Minimalism has serious advantages! I read an article about death cleaning that proposed we do it for ourselves instead of leaving it to grieving loved ones.
Over the past few years, we’ve been getting rid of items that we no longer use. I can no longer sing, and my shoulder injury prevents playing the guitar I purchased when I was 18, so I sold it to the daughter of a friend. My husband bought me a digital piano that I haven’t played in several years. I’m nowhere near ready to let it go.
