Receiving an Education

I think I learn more from my clients than they could ever imagine. I have been assisting a widow as he relocates to his daughter's home in another state( he is 80). He was educated at Princeton, and has traveled the world. This is a highly intelligent gentleman entering the time of reflection in his life.
This man has not let go of any tangible items in at least thirty years. He knows he has " a lot of stuff"- and sometimes laughs as we go thru his belongings "Why did I keep this?" We found his check statements back to 1972. He did let me put those in the shredder( to 2003).
I have learned about investing, traveling, photography and true love.
I told him last week- about my new effort to take less pictures. He laughed- " because of me".

Yep- I have packed away 6 large rubbermaid containers of his photos- most of which he admits he has never viewed. " I will get to it".
His daughter calls me- " please get him to get rid of some things". I was able to eliminate two boxes worth. I did get him to throw out old newspaper clippings- " I want to give them to the kids". I remind him that the kids have said that they would prefer that he did not keep these items. We are having an estate sale- he is not keeping his furniture.
As we go thru pictures of his wife- he shows me pictures from every anniversary. He still smiles when he looks at the pictures. I do not think my blog can do justice to his love for his wife. They met in High school, married had three kids and lived a "happily ever after life".
I feel so privileged to be a part of lives of older adults.
Next week- we take on the spare room and the " kids rooms"( the youngest has been out of the house since '88). I already did a quick look around- I found the silver in his daughters old room.
As a senior case manager at Senior Care Management ( http://www.scmanagementar.com/) I am able to work with aging adults and their families to provide service coordination and to work as liaison when families live out of state. I look forward to posting more adventures.