Just after Dad died Mom got an apartment in an elderly housing building, and so the massive yard sale/clean up occurred then. When Mom passed a couple of years ago, cleaning out the apartment was surprisingly easy—most of the things of sentimental value had been divided up when the family house was sold 20 years prior. There was little of sentimental or actual value in the tiny one-room apartment where Mom spent her last 20 years.
A cousin who lived in the same building took the sofa and chair. Her neighbor who lived across the hall (who helped her often) gladly accepted her AC unit. Her small eating table went to a neighbor as well.
Thank goodness that one chore was not as bad as my sisters and I had anticipated.