The Dyson Family Flies to London

IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO – Greetings from the Idaho Falls airport…

We’ve left Driggs, stored our car with all our worldly possessions inside, and we’re just about to board our plane and fly away.

We’re going to England to tidy up Mum’s affairs, organize her possessions, and sell her property. I’m expecting this to take two months.

Here we are on the road this morning…

Next time you hear from us, we’ll be in London.

Until then.

– Tom, Kate, and the gang

P.S. It feels good to be on the road again!

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Readers send well wishes as the Dyson family travels to London to deal with Tom’s mom’s estate…

Reader comment: Best wishes to you as you return to London to deal with your mother’s effects. But for goodness’ sake, Tom, I’m sure she has some lovely, valuable things. Please don’t dump them for pennies on the pound. London has many fine antique stores. Invest the time to find a reputable dealer who will appreciate your mom’s estate and not only give you a good price, but find good, new homes for those items (where other families will cherish her pretty things).

You’ll feel better about it, too, knowing you’ve dealt respectfully with her valuables and found them (eventual) good homes. And expect to do more grieving as you handle those items and the memories they will bring. I hope you will pass on those memories to your kids.

Reader comment: It is important to keep that link to the past. But if you don’t have the room to store these items, you can preserve memories through photos! Also, if your mother kept diaries or journals, in addition to family photos, these can all be scanned digitally and take up very little space!

It is a challenge to preserve our families’ records, but it’s so important! Your children will thank you for it, I guarantee! Thank you for sharing your family’s adventures.

Reader comment: I get the logistics of packing up everything and moving your family (again), especially during a pandemic. Our daughter is pregnant with their third child, due in June. She accepted a job in Vietnam, and they have to move their family at the end of August. They just bought their house in March of 2020 (online) and moved themselves in during the height of the pandemic – across four states!

“Where there is a will, there is a way!” My husband and I did it two years earlier, in order to help out my aging mother. Please don’t feel remorseful about not being there for you mum. My husband and I gave up everything to take care of and move my 90-year-old mother in with us. It’s a long story, but my point is that we tried, and it still didn’t go the way that I anticipated. She was never happy, no matter what we did.

Your mum lived the life she wanted and was very proud of you and your brother.

Tom’s note: Thank you for your kind messages. Your words keep us going when the going gets tough. Please keep sending your questions and comments to [email protected], and I’ll do my best to answer them in a future Friday mailbag edition.