You wake up one morning in March; surprisingly you realized that the cold air has become a blanket of warmth in the air. Birds are flying and singing outside of your windows, the grey sky has become a vibrant blue and a sense of new beginning rushes through you. While you are doing what you routinely do in your house, such as making coffee, brushing your teeth, feeding your animals and walking through your house you notice your hands are moving things around in your house. Suddenly, an idea comes to your mind, "hey, perhaps it is time to make some change." You are feeling great and excited about the coming changes in life, but you are overwhelmed because you do not know how and where to start.

For some people, this March is the first March without a loved one. The deceased person's clothing is still hanging in the closet. For a while, looking at the possessions of your loved one would bring up feelings of sadness and grief; however, it has been a while now and you are more comfortable with the idea of making some changes in life, yet, cleaning up your loved one's possession is never an easy task. Below are some tips and ideas on how to start the process of cleaning up and rearranging the possession of your loved one.

1. You may create a private ritual, which could be spent alone, or with a closed family member or friend, to go through all items of your deceased loved one. This review may bring precious memories or bring up sadness; mentally send blessings to all those memories and saying goodbye to the items.

2. Create a potluck party and invite all your family or friends who may appreciate having a possession of your loved one. Also, this gathering is a mini celebration of life that a new beginning is about to start and that you are moving forward fearlessly in your life.

3. Divide all the items into 3 categories: A) Must Keep B) Must Go C) May Be

4. Go through the "May Be" items, pick and choose those "May Be" items to see if any of those can be turn into an art project, or be transformed into daily items that you can use or be given as memorial gifts to the family or close friends.

5. Most thrift stores are run by non-profit organizations such as Good Will, Salvation Army, or local non-profit organization accept used items and some can arrange pick up from your house.

6. Put a date on boxes for the items that you keep, open it again in few months and go through the process of making arrangements for the "May Be" items that can be given away completely.

7. Ideas for transforming clothing into something useful or as a keepsake:

• Memory teddy bears (for children or family members, or donate them to fire department or police department to serve as comfort items for children who have encountered hardship)
• Tote bag ( use a thick fabric like jeans, suit, or other thick materials)
• Pillow cases or cushions
• Heat therapy bags (use soft cotton clothing, make flannel bags stuffed with rice or field corn, which can be microwaved and used to soothe the aches)
• Boots or shoes can be used as flower pots in the garden; line shoes with a plastic bag inside, insert dirt and plant something in it. You can also paint those shoes first, put colors or messages on it; use paint that is waterproof for outdoor conditions.
• Make a memory quilt (cut panels into 4.5 inches X 6.5 inches rectangles, stitch them together, make it into a blanket so that someone can use it for warmth, or use it alone for an art piece to hang on the wall).
• For women, you may transform the clothing to fit the size of a survivor who may want to wear the dress, or a shirt, mixed and matched with different parts of the fabric. Add some nice pattern on your own jeans, or cut out a pattern and add on your jacket or on a hat, just be creative. It is a best gift for children who are grieving the loss of sibling or parent as a keepsake. Often time, they want to honor their loved one by wearing their clothes.

If you have any good ideas, please email me at: cwu@vvchospice.com