My dad was the same, at least with shoes. I filled a 24" tall U-Haul moving box with all of the walking/running shoes he accumulated. Tied the laces together to keep them pairs. It was like he was in the shoe of the month club for years. I calculated a fairly high-dollar donation rate per pair when I took them to St. Vincent DePaul's, and these were something they were really thrilled to get, barely-used comfortable men's shoes.

I gave his goose down parka to my tall daughter (every so often she turns up wearing it and I'm reminded again of Dad). Tons of bath towels (not so odd, though, since he lived at the beach). He filled a wall of shelves with pottery purchased from Sam Scott in Seattle. When friends and neighbors stopped by while I was working on the estate I had them step into the room and choose a piece, since likely he'd already given them something from this collection, and they'd have another piece to match. I still have a lot here and have sent it to siblings and cousins upon request.

Years earlier Dad sent me an interestingly knit zipper cardigan sweater from LL Bean, and I finally wore it out. At Dad's house I found not only his own sweater in that style, I found one in the plastic bag that was a spare! Joy! And the next door neighbor had the same one in my size they had inherited from one of their parents after they died. I ended up with three of my favorite sweater that was out of stock at LL Bean.

I didn't have much at all from Mom's house; that estate was complicated but also for years she had been a heavy smoker who lived in a damp house. The combination was deadly as far as ever getting the smell out of anything that had been in the house. All of the kids grew up ardent anti-smokers, as was Dad (they divorced decades earlier, but smoking was always an issue for everyone in the family.) My sister shipped me lots of Mom's fabric stash and it went through long pre-soaks with baking soda and repeated washes before it could be put in the same room with the rest of my fabric. Books are still musty if you get close to them. But I digress. . .

I just made two denim masks for a friend to take to her father for a long visit. She spent the last two weeks working at home, not going anywhere, to be able to walk safely into her elderly parents' home and spend 2 weeks while the sibling who lives nearby and is their regular caretaker goes on a long vacation. We discussed the style he would probably like, the type of ties, and when she said she wasn't sure if he'd wear the brighter or seasonal prints she had chosen for her mother I remembered some denim I've used so made two of them on the fly last night and she picked them up on the way out of town. Under the new "normal" you really have to work hard to be eligible to get those hugs!