2026 OneThing #1 - Finish Sorting Lou's Papers

I am going to say that this goal is both Achieved! and also In Progress . . . But let me explain.

When my father-in-law lived with us from March 2013 - September 2017, he eventually moved to an apartment in Northfield. He left behind twelve boxes of papers, which I spent a lot of time sorting through. Some papers were shredded, some recycled, some saved for family history / posterity. Records from Asbury United Methodist Church (now Living Spirit), including employees' full data with social security numbers - I brought to the church office. 

Then my sister-in-law emptied her Maple Grove home to move up north and I agreed to take the seven boxes of items she had from her parent's home - mostly photos, yearbooks, cards, etc. I sorted through enough of it to get it down to four boxes which are still sitting in my basement.

Then in August of 2025, we moved Lou into assisted living and his wife into a different apartment. Because his wife will throw out anything she doesn't personally see a need for, I tried to grab all Lou's stuff on his behalf. Then he died on October 3, and all his worldly goods came to us.

Here's what my basement looked like shortly after his death:

There were several boxes on the far side of the pool table. There was a lot of clothing; that and his furniture were the first things I tackled for donation.

I had put some things out in the living room on the day of the funeral for people to choose what they wanted. It was sweet to see how almost everyone selected a shirt of his to keep for themselves.

Now I've made a lot of progress and here's what the pool table looks like:

A lot of the stuff on (and under) the pool table is mine, but the white bins have files of papers for the Mohrs and LaMoores. I have done an initial sort through all Lou's papers (and there were a lot of them!). I am fascinated by some of the historical and personal items. It will take longer to completely finish this, but I feel good about the progress made. I didn't take a picture of the white table because more than 40% of the stuff currently on it will go to family members at Leech Lake this weekend. (I'm setting this to publish shortly after midnight on 1/11/2026.)

I also have a card table full of various office supplies. I anticipate that it will be empty within less than two weeks. I have a quilt retreat next week, so my basement will probably not change much for a while.