My dad died young 20 years ago. My mom never really recovered, but 10+ years ago she realized she and my dad had a house stuffed with things even they didn't really care about. She spent 10 years but got all the closets, the garage, the attic AND the garage attic sorted/emptied. She really enjoyed having things cleaned out.

Then two years ago my mom started losing her memory (now we know it's Alzheimers). She couldn't do that sorting now. That's a lesson I won't forget.