Just a couple suggestions , find someone else to give them to ...sea shells ..grand kids? Maybe start their own collection?
Keep just one or two of the favorites of a collection,and display them.
Photograph some items and make an album of memory, after all it is the memory we really want to hold on to.
With drift wood and sea shells you could make a wind chime, or several as gifts? and be sure to send the story along

In the same (full to sinking) boat
Cinda

Digital library of what we hold dear. Burn the images to SEVERAL CDs. One for everyday viewing (if we have to look at the treasures that often), one to place with a dear, dear, friend (in case we damage our copy), one to place in the safe deposit box for posterity, or whoever holds the extra key after we're long gone and buried.

The biggest problem is that I have nobody to care about this stuff after I'm gone. I don't have any kids and neither does my brother...we're the "end of the line".