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When my MIL passed away last fall, we found some unexpected things in her belongings. She still had her mom's pay stubs from the 1950s, countless obituaries for relatives of her friends, as well as a nude female salt and pepper shaker (one boob for salt, one for pepper).


But, by far, the most unusual thing we found was her long-dead dog's gallstones in a prescription pill bottle.


So, I am wondering what unusual "treasures" you have found in your own clean up efforts?


And, for those brave souls, what possession do you have that might raise some eyebrows from those you leave behind?


I'm realizing that none of my stuff will be unexpected - maybe I need to paint outside the lines a bit!


Hoping to find some things to laugh about! Thanks.

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When clearing out Mom and Stepdads House I was taking all the pictures off the walls.

In one of the bedrooms was a portrait of the two of them. A photo taken by them by a photographer not long after they married.

I took it down and leaned it up against the wall. It fell over. There was an envelope taped to the back.

I opened envelope. There was a letter addressed to “Whoever finds this Letter”.

The letter started out saying” I guess if you have found this letter I am dead and gone.” “Have fun cleaning out my house”.
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Guess that's one way to get the last word!
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I found some love notes my Dad had written my mom during the war and beyond.
He was a very romantic fellow. He wrote things like "My Darling Jean" and just beautiful words. I also found the medals off of his military uniform.

I had known they had a deep love but never got to witness it cause I was very young when he died. But I did see the faraway look in my mom's eyes always and I'm sure it was him that she was thinking about.
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Those are truly a treasure. What a blessing. I'm so happy for you that you have those to remember them by.
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I have raised my eldest granddaughter from the age of three, she is now 30. Her mother (my daughter) has pretty much cut out the whole family. As a result I am mom as well as grandma. We share everything...everything!
One day we were talking about being prepared for the inevitable and she said "Tell me where you keep your "toys" and I will make sure to get rid of them before anyone knows about it!" I love that girl!
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Hilarious!!! My kinda girl!!

You have raised that woman well. Hats off to you!!

My MIL and I had a running joke that she donated her "toys" to charity. My husband did not find that funny like we did :)
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While going through my mom's things I found a bathroom glass and soap dish that she was going to give me when I moved into my new home in 1989. I was divorced in 1991 and never moved into the home. My mom passed in 2010. She held onto that glass and soap dish for 21 years because she didn't want to me to be reminded of a tough time in my life. I treasure that soap dish and glass and I treasure my mom's protection from hurt and love for me.
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When my dad died we found dried fish flakes in a leather case with a note stating "keep this with your money it will bring you good luck." The note was sign by someone with a date in the 60's.
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Never heard of fish flakes bringing good luck...hope it worked for him!! Maybe the smell deterred people from looking in there?
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What great stories here! I don’t have anything unusual, just something precious to me. When I was probably 5 or so my dad took us shopping for mother’s day. I found a lime green scarf with fuschia flowers painted on it, I thought it was beautiful. It was hideous and I remember my dad trying to talk me out of it, but I was convinced my mom would just love it. So we bought it and I happily presented it to her. My child nature moved on to other things and I never thought more of it. When mom died and I was sorting through her things there was the scarf, I was stunned and touched to see that she’d always kept such an ugly gift! The other thing I found was that she’d written the names of grandchildren on the bottom of many collectibles, no one knew she’d done it, her quiet way of passing something on
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No one is going to be able to compete with finding the dog's gallstones!

Luckily the thing I kept finding when I cleaned out my father things was CASH. He had little bank envelopes of cash tucked everywhere. I had to carefully go through every pocket, every suitcase, every bag, every nook and cranny in the house.
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metoo111 Jun 2019
How lucky for you!! Hope you treated yourself to something fun you wouldn't normally indulge in:)

I only found lint and wadded up kleenex in her pockets!!
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Not so funny, but more like a "WTF".....I found out that my mom had an alias!!!!!!
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Really?? That would drive me batty trying to figure out the "why" behind that!
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OK, this is a Weird one, but after my parents passed, only 14 months apart, 5 of 6 of us kids gathered at their place (which was one of my sisters MIL apartment attached to their home) to go through their things and divide up their belongings. It was to be a fairly simple job, as we had already moved and downsized them 3 times and they had previously given the majority of their collectables to us, but it was time to finally clear out my sisters place.

My eldest brother could not be there for some reason, so a few things were put aside for him, but we did come across Ahem.... my Dad's Penis Pump kit, a full on medical device Rx'd by his Urologist and purchased from a Medical Supply store. I thought it sweet that my Dad thought enough of my Mom and their romantic life that he wished to do everything he could do to maintain their sex life one it became difficult due to his Prostate issues. Still, it produced a laugh to all of us.

Anhoo, after the laughter finally subsided my younger brother decided that it would be funny to put a post mortem "note from the grave" from my Dad to our eldest brother "gifting" him his Penis Pump, as he "knew it would come in handy for him one day soon". We all laughed our Azz's off for a long time as it was something my Dad would have thought funny too and would have got a kick out of, but my Mom would have been mortified! It brought some real laughter to what was a somber situation, but was exactly what we needed, and a real bonding moment for all of us. We are all super close anyways, so it is a great memory and one we bring up every once in a while, Notes from the grave! Lol!
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metoo111 Jun 2019
Love it!!! What happened when eldest brother opened the gift???
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I was a nosy child so I don't think there was anything that I hadn't discovered in my parent's farm long before it came time to clean up. I was always a little disappointed my nephews and niece weren't inclined to go snooping around to discover all the little treasures kids might find amusing - one thing that comes to mind is a little fur wrap? scarf? made so that the head clamped to the backside with the tail left hanging down. Ugly, impractical and definitely not PC!
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metoo111 Jun 2019
I think I've seen one of those...kinda creepy with the teeth bared?

I was a nosy child too until I found my mom's spermicidal jelly in her bedside drawer!
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