Lucy and Bob made the decision to move from their family home to a senior living apartment complex. “Where do we start with disbursing our many family heirlooms to our four children, thirteen grandchildren and growing number of great-grandchildren?” After discussing various options, Joan (helping hand senior mover) worked with them to identify all the heirlooms that would be of interest to their family.
Joan took pictures of all the items and created descriptions with the help of Lucy and Bob. These digital photos, with descriptions, were placed in a file for all family members to access using their personal computer/phone devices. Joan used the Dropbox app (Dropbox.com) to accomplish this task. A few ground-rules were laid and everyone was given the Dropbox link to view the items and start the dialogue. The Dropbox app is free and provides a great platform for this process. Since grandma and grandpa do not use a smart phone or a personal computer they enjoyed many phone calls from their family. They coordinated the process with Joan to identify items that were claimed by family members as the process evolved. Joan monitored the Dropbox file and kept it up-to-date.
Lucy and Bob were very pleased that many of the heirlooms will continue to be treasured by their family. They also received many visits from grandchildren to pick-up their family heirlooms and other items they were not taking with them to their apartment. The engagement with grandchildren through this process was truly a rewarding experience for everyone involved.
The coveted photo of Lucy with her 4-H Grand Champion cow along with the award plaque when she was 15 years old at the Minnesota State Fair will be forever treasured by Granddaughter Logan.
A daunting task turned into a rewarding experience with help from a senior move manager.
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