As a good Scandinavian, Margareta reflects that the Vikings sensibly buried their relatives with many of their possessions. Although this was to make sure that the dead wouldn’t miss anything in their new world, it was also very effective at getting rid of a lot of “skrap” (Swedish for junk) that the relatives didn’t really need. Unfortunately, these days we’d need an Olympic sized pool to be buried in if we took all our “skrap” with us! We’re all going to die one day, and the message in this book is that we should put our house in order so that or loved ones don’t have to spend days or weeks sorting out all the accumulated junk in our lives. And if we are going to move to a smaller home, or even a nursing home, then having our house in order will make the transition so much easier for everyone involved. I was lucky, my mother (the last to go) did some kind of Australian version of Swedish Death Cleaning, and it was easy for me and my siblings to deal with everything. Except for the soap – she had 30 cakes of soap stashed away. We’re not quite sure why. For some of us though, we need to convince our parents to do some death cleaning. And Margareta has excellent advice on how to do that tactfully, but effectively. This is a practical guide to how to downsize, and it’s very droll. For example, discussing how we all get new stuff before the old has worn out, but often keep the old stuff in a cupboard, she counsels us to throw out the old stuff, saying “this crazy consumption we are all part of will eventually destroy our planet – but it doesn’t have to destroy the relationship you have with whomever you leave behind”. How practical! There’s advice on every aspect of death cleaning – whether it’s clearing out man caves (“mansdagis” – male kindergarten, in Swedish), or getting rid of gifts that you didn’t want but don’t have the heart to throw away, to dealing with pets (Margareta recommends that if you’re old, go to the pound and get an old and tired dog too), and to the “little black book” – the one with all your internet passwords. This is a delightful and useful book on a subject that we shy away from, and if we take Margareta’s advice we can probably actually make our lives (what’s left of them) a lot more enjoyable!
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