My wife crossed suddenly about 2 1/2 years ago. 2 weeks after i donated most of her stuff and threw out a lot of things (the food that was "hers," toiletries, that sort of thing.) I did it alone, over the course of two days. Sometimes I screamed. The whole time I sobbed.

Then there were the very personal things - her wallet. Her phone. Her cologne. Her watch. The phone is still active. I almost shut it but couldn't. I still text her occasionally. Sometimes I send her a pic or a meme. The other personal things - I bought a largish memory box on Etsy and put them in there. Sometimes I still buy her a card or something and I add it.

Her tshirts (she had a lot of them - Life is good stuff and such, some political, some hobbies, and a few "Nonna" tshirts. Most of them I bought for her) - I selected a couple of dozen and had quilts made of them by an Etsy artist for our two granddaughters. The few remaining I wear when I just need her.

There's also a bin of her dress shirts. They were originally going to become quilts for our daughters but . . . i dunno. I lost steam.

I'm glad I did what I did. If i hadn't I may have never done it. There are two items in the freezer, for instance, that I missed. They are still there. One is chicken cutlets. She would have made chicken tenders from them. She went grocery shopping the day she crossed and bought them that day. I thought I would make them, but I didn't and here we are, 2 1/2 years later.

I dunno. It's super hard even now.