Spent the day in Fishkill

   This morning, Hubs asked me to go to the Fishkill house with him. I know he doesn't like going, much less going alone,  so I said sure! We were there by 10 a.m.  I've decided I don't like going there, either. It's really depressing, trying to empty the house of someone who has passed away. Especially since it's his mother, and he is an only child, so there's no one to share the burden with. Except me. So I go and be supportive.
   He has been working on clearing the debris from the trees he had cut down, while I get to work inside the house. Mostly, I'm throwing stuff away. It hurts, and I'm finding myself apologising to her as I throw out her things. "Sorry, Betty, but this has to go...", "Sorry, but we have no room for this in our house...". I try to save the things I can, like her flatware, pots and pans, sheet pans, and lots of kitchen utensils.
   Going thru her closets was a real chore! She had two closets, stuffed full of clothes, many of which were brand new with the tags still on them! Then there were the four dressers full of clothes too. She was a real clothes horse, and before she retired, she went to her job very well dressed. There were clothes ranging in size from Medium to XXX large. Nearly all of them were donated to charity, to be re-sold. A few clothes I kept, and I gave some to my mom, too.
   And watches??? At one point I counted 30 watches. Then I found some more! She had a watch for every outfit, I think! I didn't really like any of them, so I took them to my mom, who had asked for one of Betty's watches, and let her pick out as many as she wanted. I think she ended up with eight of them. I found one watch that I liked, so I'm keeping that one.
   It really bothers me to take things that I know she loved, and throw them away, or take them to the dump. But what else can we do?
   A few things, like the blanket I crocheted for her when she was first diagnosed with cancer, I gave to her friend who lives across the street. She really misses Betty too.
   We lived in the house with her, until she passed, which was WAY sooner than anyone thought! Even the Hospice nurse was shocked at how quickly she declined... He told me he thought he had more time to prepare us for what was coming. We stayed in the house thru the winter. Maybe some of you remember my ranting about the people of Fishkill. I am thinking of doing a post here about that whole experience. Anyway, it was difficult being there after she died, because we truly thought she would make it til the spring, and then we would put her on a plane to Florida to stay for a while with her friend Shirley. And suddenly, she was gone, and the whole plan changed. We stayed there just so someone was in the house. It's a good thing we did, because the heat went out twice over the winter.
   Now we are emptying the house, in preparation for doing some work, so we can rent it out.  And we still refer to it as Betty's house, cause it will always be her house.