The first batch

This suitcase full goes to the Salvation Army tomorrow.

I am using the list provided by the Salvation Army to value the items. I usually use the lowest value for anything that has been worn. If things are brand new, never worn, I use up to the highest value. If it seems new but doesn't have tags I use something in between.

We had an air quality alert for a few days here in Virginia (from the smoke resulting from the Canada wildfires), and I used my time to plan this project. 

I have been hesitating to do this for more than five years. If you recall Joan Didion's book "The Year of Magical Thinking," there can be lingering thoughts--perfectly normal!--that your loved one will need those belongings at some point. For her it was his shoes. I had the same reaction.

It seems less heart wrenching to give away some of mine together with some of his that he never wore. Your results might vary!

I plucked these from our closets and laid them out on the floor, along with a no-longer-used 20" suitcase.

I listed them all on a sheet in a notebook which I will use to record everything. 

I am recording things, not so much for the donation value (you have to donate an awful lot to affect your tax deductions), but because I want to look back and remember what I gave away, in case I go looking for something later. 

I know exactly what I have and where to look for it, including a tube of zinc oxide that expired in 2003!

When I'm 85, I might think I still have "everything."