Make a List of Everything You Have to Lose

A four-step guide to cleaning out your parents’ house after they die

Siobhan Adcock
Forge

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Photo: 10'000 Hours/Getty Images

The first item on any list, my mom always said, should be to make a list. That way, you can cross something off immediately.

When my mother died last year, she left her affairs well-organized — unsurprising, for someone with her talent for list-making…

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Siobhan Adcock
Forge

Siobhan Adcock is the author of two novels, The Completionist and The Barter, as well as essays in Ms., Salon, Slate, and McSweeneys. siobhanadcock.com