I can sympathize with a lot of this. Cleaned out mom's house in 2010, (cannot believe it was that long ago), my aunt in 2015 who was a big saver of (interesting) sentimental stuff, and now MIL is living with us. It's helped me focus on trying to keep things moving, even a little.
My sister said Keep this coffee mug and think of Mom whenever you use it. That means more to me than sitting something on a shelf, where I unfortunately never look at it.
A prized possession from my aunt is a white enamel pail with lid- which I did NOT know till later was a chamber pot! She had laundry soap in it.
