The Heirloom Gathering
TRANSITION SERVICES
A structured ceremony for families who want to do this part right.
Most families handle the belongings under time pressure, in the middle of everything else, with everyone disagreeing about what things are worth and who should have them. It may be easier said than done, but it doesn't always have to go that way.
The Heirloom Gathering is a hosted event, held in the home before the move, where family members come together to sort through, claim, and receive the belongings that matter most. It's structured enough to stay organized and low-conflict. It's unhurried enough to let the stories surface. And it centers the person whose home this is: as the one doing the giving.
Think of it as the house throwing its own going-away party, giving everyone a piece of it to take home with them.
What we believe about this
OUR PHILOSOPHY
The moments that become part of the family’s story are almost never the efficient ones. They're the ones where someone slowed down long enough to actually be present for something significant.
A home that's been lived in for decades holds more than most families realize until the moment they have to sort through it. The Heirloom Gathering exists because that moment deserves more than a weekend of tired, disagreeing adults trying to divide things up fairly.
It deserves intention.
It deserves witnesses.
It deserves to feel, even a little, like a celebration.
If you're thinking about a move and want to talk through whether an Heirloom Gathering makes sense for your family, I'd love to hear about your situation.
“It’s part farewell to the home, part celebration of everything in it. It’s a space for grief and gratitude.”
SERVICE RATE
$125
Two-hour minimum: one hour for prep, one hour on gathering day
per hour
What the hours include:
We organize the home, identify items being distributed, and build a process that fits your family's size and your parent's pace. Minimum one hour.
I facilitate the gathering, keep things organized and calm, and hold space for whatever the day brings. Story capture is included. Minimum one hour.
Before the gathering
In the prep session, we work together inside the home before any family arrives. I help organize the space and physically move and arrange items so the gathering has a clear, navigable flow. Together, we build an inventory of what's being offered: what each item is, who it might go to, and the story behind it. I ask questions and draw out the meaning attached to things, and I record what surfaces, in writing or on video.
That inventory becomes a working document we both use to run the gathering. It can also be shaped into something you send to invited family members in advance, like a preview of what's waiting for them and what it means. Think of it as the gathering's invitation to pay attention.
The prep session moves at your pace. If you want family present for part of it, that's your call. If you'd rather this part be just the two of us, that's fine too. This is where you get to decide, without an audience, what you want to give and to whom.
During the gathering
When family arrives, I help orient guests so that pressure doesn't fall on you. We will designate one space in the house for the main event to happen, which is where the gathering begins.
The gathering itself moves in two parts, if you want it to.
The first is the giving ceremony: a structured, intentional passing of items from you to the people you've chosen. This is the heart of the event. I facilitate it, keep it organized, and make sure the stories travel with the objects.
The second, if you want it, is a time for family to move through the home and find things they'd like to ask about or take. During this time I move between you and your guests, encouraging people to ask you about what they're drawn to, and recording those conversations. You don't have to offer this part. If you'd rather the gathering end after the ceremony, it ends there.
Throughout both, I keep notes on everything that matters.
When family members disagree
Disagreements over belongings are almost never really about the belongings. They surface old dynamics, old wounds, old questions about who was loved and how. I don't take sides, and I don't try to arbitrate. What I do is slow things down. I listen actively, ask questions that invite people to look beneath the possessiveness at what's actually there, and work to bring everyone back to their senses, literally, so the moment stays calm and the client stays centered.
My goal in those moments is not just to resolve the dispute. It's to create enough space for the people in it to find something that needs soothing, and to leave having received a little of that, not just an object. I can't promise that happens every time. I can promise that I show up for it every time.
CAPTURING THE STORIES
Recording what is said when things change hands.
During the gathering, I will capture video of each hand-off: the story behind the item, why it's going to this person, and the moment of giving.
You can choose how you'd like that footage delivered to you and the rest of the family.
-
$0
Unedited video, shared via a private Google Drive folder. Still meaningful. No extra wait time.
-
$50
All footage from the gathering compiled into a single continuous file, unedited. Everything that was captured, start to finish, in the order it happened. Delivered as a private YouTube link and a Google Drive download.
-
$75
Clips trimmed, labeled by item and recipient, and organized for easy sharing. A clean record of the gathering, easy to forward to family members.
-
A documentary of the gathering, edited with opening and closing title cards, your family's name, the date, and the address of the home. The full event is captured: not just the handoffs, but the atmosphere, the room, the people together in it one last time.
Natural audio throughout, with optional background music.
Delivered as a private YouTube link for easy sharing with family members who couldn't be there, and a Google Drive download for keeping.
Twenty years from now, someone in your family will want to remember or know what it felt like to be in that house, with those people, on that day. A grandchild who wasn't there. A great-grandchild who wasn't born yet. This is what they'll watch.
AFTER THE GATHERING
Not everything finds a home during the gathering. What's left behind still deserves more than a dumpster and a weekend. After the estate sale, I can coordinate the removal of remaining items, connecting your family with donation resources and hauling services so nothing gets abandoned to circumstance. Because one family's leftovers are someone else's find, and because the end of this process should feel as intentional as the beginning.
What to do with what’s left
