When we first met Marna and Dave, it was because Dave wanted to downsize and move. His back and knees could no longer handle the maintenance of their beautiful, huge lawn. He felt overwhelmed with all the stuff they had accumulated over the years. Both Dave and Marna wanted to move out of state to be closer to adult children and their grandchildren.

Marna was the one dragging her feet. She loved her collections and every item in the home had a strong memory. We joked that Marna was a hoarder-lite and then used the more positive words “super saver”. The H word was not to be uttered! But what was amazing about Marna, was that she knew who she was and that it was creating a roadblock. She was proactive in reading books about hoarding and downsizing to educate herself.

Even though Dave wanted to have moved yesterday, we spent two years together downsizing the stuff before they were ready. Marna needed this time and that is OK because they did not wait until the last minute. We celebrated every donation, every item sold, every item respectfully retired. Every drawer downsized was a celebration and a chance for a chocolate treat.

As a former teacher, Marna opened up her home to all of the young educators she knew, allowing them to “shop for free” and take items she no longer needed. We also donated as much as we could to charity organizations. In this way, Marna could be happy that many items were going to a good and useful home.

We downsized the rest. Marna and Dave chose to use a pod moving system, and then after two years of planning and work, they were on their way to their new home out of state and closer to their children!