diamarrow, your last post brought me to tears. I feel your pain.. Big hugs to you (and that cute little doggie you have as your pic!)...
I lost my husband 2 yrs ago and still have my "moments" ... I got rid of a lot of his things but kept a lot too... Sometimes when I look at something of his I think "hey, you forgot this! You loved this and you just left it!" Strange thought, huh??? crazy...
I too am miserable and alone (even though surrounded by friends and family)... I HATE my new life.....

I agree with the advise(s) to take your time. I'm almost a year in and still have 90% plus (some boxed w/ a neighbor's help) and the rest is as he left it. I know that when I'm ready I will part with these things, meanwhile I'm not in a hurry. Deep breaths, one day at a time . . sending you healing thoughts. xo, Dayna

My friends just left and it was a good thing. They helped me sort through the flower arrangements and toss most of them.
The flowers are mostly gone. A few a the carnations were still good so I put them in 2 of the vases. Put the roses from the arrangement I had for him in a baggie.
I was able to talk about my husband without crying..
Still somewhat unreal.
This will just take time..lots and lots of time..

I was able to start going thru his clothes after 4 months.
Most of his stuff is in the garage. I haven't touched all those tools he has out there. I have no idea what a lot of them are for. That will be hard going thru.
My son and I took hubby's computer table down and stored it along with the computer.
He had a dozen guns which I gave to my brother-in-law. I kept one just in case. I live in a place that you can't see from the street. My neighbors are an acre away.

It is hard to part with things. Everyone has to do it at their own pace. There is no right or wrong. Two years later and I still have a lot, but I did donate most of his clothes to a homeless youth shelter, but I kept a few favorite t-shirts for me to sleep in. One thing I kept was all his jeans. He had so many with a hole in one knee because he always kneeled on one knee when doing things around the house. So I am going to cut them into squares and make a denim quilt from his jeans. A little piece of his him at night. Now if only I could get started on it lol.

It's taking a lot longer than I expected to go through my wife's things.

Arlene died about 8 months ago. Every time I look in a box or open a bag, I get the memories. They are less painful than they were at the beginning. I expect to cry a lot when I go through these things.

Take your time, there is no "right" amount of time to start to unburden yourself of these things. Go step-by-step. Maybe you can get help from family or friends.

My wife had a lot of stuff too, she collected things, and was also a little bit of a hoarder.

She had a lot of clothes and art supplies, and jewelry. She was a pagan witch, so she had a lot of statues and stuff. Also she was an intellectual, she had a lot of books and kept magazines. I will keep the books, and give the magazines to an art therapist I know who can use them.

I also have a lot of unused bandages and dressings. I will donate them to agencies I know that can use them for First Aid. I am looking for recipients for her wheelchair and a brand new commode.

Fortunately I had help sorting and laundering her clothes. A friend needs extra $, so she comes a couple of times a week to help me keep the apartment clean, and run errands, do laundry etc. She packed 10 boxes of clothes, and I am planning to give them to another friend who was homeless for years, now she has a supported living apartment through an agency. She knows a lot of people who can use the clothes that don't fit her. I am eager to get rid of the clothes, and get more space.

Then I will go through the statues and art supplies. I will donate most of the art supplies to a Self Help center where I know the art therapist. I don't know what to do with the statues. I guess I will pack them up and store them. I am using some of them on the altar we shared, now only my altar.

I have given away her electronics to people who could use them - laptop, netbook, Kindle, phone. I backed up her personal stuff first, and removed all the logins. I reset the phone to factory settings.

My mom died a year ago. I also have about two dozen boxes of hers. Books, vinyl records (some were mine as a child), knick-knacks, kitchen items. Half of them are in a storage room. She was an artist, a lot of the books are beautiful (and maybe valuable) art books.

I went through most of my mom's kitchen items and threw a lot of stuff away. The rest that I don't want to keep, I am teaching my friend how to start a business on eBay for extra $ by selling them, unusual and collectible glassware and stuff.

I already bought shelving, book cases, and plastic storage bins to organize things.

Little by little :D

My husband did not leave much so going through his things will be easy but i think it is time i start going through my things so it will not be such an ordeal for my daughter when i die.
Im not being morbid, ill be 70 next month and even though im in pretty decent health you just never know

I am going to put some of his things in boxes so I dont have to see them every day everywhere. Then when I am ready I can decide what to do with them. Already put his coats in the storage room in the basement.
I am also going to clean out my stuff. I dont have any children so if there is something I want someone to have I need to write it down so whoever gets rid of my stuff has some instructions. Not being morbid too just trying to plan ahead a little.

After one year, I was able to sort through only half of my husband's personal belongings. I just do it when I find the strength. I read somewhere if you have a hard time with the clothes, to just snap a picture. I did that and then was able to let go, sort, donate. I still have his suits and hopefully soon will donate to an organization that helps vets find jobs. My friend volunteers there so a worthy organization.

I am not ready, but he had too many vehicles and so very many tools. I had someone who races come and look in the garage. He told me he had no ideal what half the tools were, I am not sure we're to start on them. I have decided to try and let go of 2-3 vehicles as I can't keep them all going. ( over the next 6 months). Tools can wait, but I ask has anyone done and estate sale or online auction? If so, what was your experience?

I did local estate sale when I lost my mother. Not happy with the folks and the on line auction was a mess too...look very carefully and read everything. I think they take advantage of folks.