After my mother’s death in June, we had the task of preparing cleaning out her condo for sale.
Mom liked to “collect stuff” and we spent days, including hiring trucks to haul new and/or still useful items away to needy families, Habitat for Humanity and a few other organizations I can’t recall.
I wish I had been able to take a month off from work so that I could personally go through each and every bag, box and pocket before they they were taken away. Surely there would have been found some great memories, family heirlooms and probably some cash, (we did find close to $3,000 hidden in various places and I’m sure we missed some)
My dad had died in September of 2019 and mom was very slow to start to part with his things, but she was getting there. She did however, leave his sock/underwear drawers untouched.
As I was cleaning them our, I found a piece of paper that survived at least six moves, two floods and 68 years. It was the actual receipt from their wedding reception! The Kosciuszko Association was the “Polish-American Home” club, which were common in those days.
I had wish I found this a few years ago as it could have been used as a budget guide for our girls, but again, I digress.
If my memory serves me, there were ten people in the wedding party, so this wasn’t a tiny reception. I wish one of my parents were alive that they could share the memories, but that opportunity is gone, just like $125.30 wedding receptions.
Mitigating Chaos 
first, I am sorry to hear about your mom’s passing.
second, what a wonderful memento to discover. we still have the original invoice from our wedding from 40 years ago. It was a bit more than $125, but nowhere near the cost of today’s weddings…
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My condolences. Losing our parents is very hard. Just when the generation we relied upon for guidance is gone, we become the beacons to a new generation needing guidance.
My sister-in-law never threw anything away. Cleaning out her place was a nightmare. There was very little time to go through it all to sort out what to save. She had been asking people to get whatever they wanted. No one arrived until 3 days before she passed away.
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