A week ago, my boyfriend's grandmother moved from a bigger apartment to a smaller one. She's almost 84 years old, still pretty healthy, but wants to scale down a bit which means getting rid of many things she doesn't want to keep in her life.

Somehow it feels a bit sad the whole thing... It's clearly a time of transition, and as such there is always some letting go, but it's also a new beginning. When she had decided on what to keep for herself, she told the family to take whatever they wanted and then get rid of the rest, so on Sunday it was time to do exactly that. Precious belongings changing hands. So many beautiful things. Everyone had the opportunity to take a few things they might remember from their childhood or things they might actually need or genuinely like. Myself, I became the happy and grateful recipient of some wonderful old illustrated flower and animal books, some very useful kitchen things, and a stack of beautiful linen table cloths that had been in the family for ages. T. and I were thrilled and will think very fondly of his grandmother when we deck the table for dinners in the future.