One day when I was walking my dog, we came upon an older gentleman who was sitting on a bench along the road watching people go by.
“What a beautiful dog” – people always say that because she is.
As we chit chatted about weather and such, he mentioned how lonely he was and we talked a little bit about getting rid of stuff and what the family would have to sort through.
He said he had everything stored in a single plastic tote with a letter discussing the personal significance of each of the items therein. He told me about the baseball he hit a homerun with when he was in middle school and how the mayor of his town in NJ had signed it and presented it to him in a ceremony. It brought a tear to his eye to remember the past and how much this simple ceremony meant to him even today.