After my mom passed away, I inherited her house. Last year she got a cancer diagnosis and six months later she was gone. I had quit my job to care for her during the final few weeks, and then moved in once she was gone. Her house was much nicer than the apartment I had been living in. During the wake, I met several of the neighbors including Bridgit and Carol. They were a couple from right across the street. They'd both hugged me and offered their condolences and said not to hesitate to ask if I ever needed anything. The week of the funeral and wake were kind of a haze with everything going on. After it was all said and done, I had quite a bit of work to do with the house.
My mom wasn't exactly a hoarder, but she was a "stuff" person. When I had graduated from highscool and moved out, my mom had decided to downsize the house. She'd moved out of the four bedroom house to a three bedroom house without really getting rid of very much. So there was just stuff crammed into every inch of my new home. It was going to be an ordeal going through everything and deciding what I wanted to keep, donate, sell, or just throw away. I had ordered a small dumpster to be delivered into the driveway so I could just toss whatever I needed to without pausing the sorting. I was about to get started when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and Bridgit and Carol were standing on the porch.
Carol had a six pack in one hand and said "Hey Brad, we thought you might want some help. We saw the dumpster and thought some company might not be unwanted."
Bridgit said "But we know this can be a personal time and if you want to be alone, we totally understand."
I said "No, please, I'd love some help. I don't even know where to start. Please come in!"
Bridgit and Carol were probably mid-to-late fifties. Roughly twenty or so years older than I was. Carol was around five foot four, fit and blonde and I'd soon learn, a total smartass. Bridgit was probably five foot ten and bigger than her partner. She had wide hips, a pretty large belly, and a huge bust, and she had her brown hair up in a pony tail. Her hair was streaked with some gray and she wore thick-framed glasses. Neither wore makeup and they both had on jeans and t-shirts and looked ready to work. I was grateful for their offer.
Bridgit said "We were friends with your mom, we're so sorry for your loss."
I said "Thank you. And thanks for offering to help. I guess lets get started in the living room? I had planned on making keep, donate, and trash piles. If you see anything you want, please just ask for it, there's a good chance I don't want it."
Carol asked "Anything you want us to look out for?"
I said "um, photo albums for sure. Other than that, stuff that looks homemade. My mom was a bit of an artist. I'm going to get rid of most of the furniture. Not really my style. If you think something could be worth something, let me know and we'll see if it's worth trying to get a buck for it. Obvious trash can go right to the dumpster."
We started in the living room and quickly fell into a rhythm. Bridgit started on a large china cabinet that was full of chochskis, nicknacks, and other little statues. She asked if she could have a ceramic frog that was hiding behind a wooden clock.
I said "only if you promise to take other, larger junk too."
She laughed and said it was a deal. Carol had found several plastic tubs full of old magazines. Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic and tons more. I said to toss them and she offered to take them and recycle them. Carol walked across the street to their house and returned with a handtruck. I helped her load the tubs onto it and then she and I wheeled them to their place. She went inside to open the garage for me to store the tubs inside. Their porch had two flags next to the steps; a rainbow one and a lesbian pride one. Carol opened the overhead garage door and told me dump the tubs next to a sweet Harley-style motorcycle.
She saw my looking at it and said, "Ain't she a beaut? I ride her on nice days when she'll start. Dang thing is on its last legs. We take Bridge's car most of the time around time. You ride?"
I shook my head and said, "No, but I always liked them."
She said "I'd be happy to take you out on it some day if you want."
I said "Yeah, that'd be great!"
She nodded and said "Lets get back over there. Bridgit probably has a huge pile of junk she wants to keep."
We went back across the street and sure enough, Bridgit had several things piles up to keep. A small end table, several decorative plates, a footstool, and a throw pillow.
Carol said "Bridgit you can't take all of that!"
I laughed and said "Oh yes she can, get it out of the house."
We worked in the living room for the rest of the morning. We threw out a broken recliner and some other furniture that they didn't want and that we didn't think was worth donating. We made a pile of framed artwork to try to sell or donate. All decent pieces, but not stuff I'd like to see on my walls everyday. Bridgit had found several sketchbooks and a sculpture that my mom had made. I kept those. I ordered pizza and we had a few of the beers they'd brought with lunch.
I said "I really appreciate you all coming to help, I was dreading doing this but it's been kinda fun with your help."
Bridgit said "We're happy to! And not just because you're letting us have all that great stuff."
Carol said "What great stuff? There was great stuff in there? All I see is that pile of junk over there."
Bridgit laughed and said "Don't listen to her, it's not junk."
I laughed too and said "I'm sure my mom would be happy that you're taking it. Want to tackle the garage after we're done eating?"
They nodded and we went to the garage once we were all finished with our beers. The garage had my mom's blue hatchback on one side and cardboard boxes stacked head-high on the other side. The boxes were all marked with various holidays. Several Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, and close to a dozen marked Christmas.
I said "My mom loved to decorate for holidays, but I didn't know she had this much. Jeez, there's probably an Arbor Day and Flag Day box."
Carol said "I love some of the Halloween stuff your mom would put up each year. The kids in the neighborhood love trick-or-treating."
I opened the overhead garage door and said "Well I'll keep some of this holiday stuff, but most is going right in that dumpster unless you all want it."
Bridgit said "I'll want to look through the Christmas stuff!"
Carol said "We already have too much Christmas crap!"
Bridgit said "Nonsense! You can't have too much Christmas stuff!"
We worked our way through the boxes. I kept all of the tree ornaments because a lot of them had sentimental value and my mom's Christmas village. I always liked invading it with army men figures when I was little. Mom always said she hated it but I think she secretly thought it was funny too. A lot of the holiday stuff went to the donate piles but just as much went to the dumpster. Bridgit wanted my mom's nutcrackers and when we got to the Halloween boxes, Carol wanted some of those decorations. By the time we were done with the garage, it was late afternoon.
I said "I think we should call it a day. What do you say?"
Bridgit said "We should maybe do one more thing. Do you want us to do a once-over in the master bedroom?"
Confused, I asked "Why?"
Carol said "Well, we could look through and see if there's anything in there that might be embarrassing for you to find. Your mom had needs just like everyone else I'm sure."
Then I got what they were saying. I definitely didn't want to accidentally find my mom's old dildo or vibrator or amything.