In a poignant column for this week's Wallace Street Journal, David Bond discusses the bittersweet task for going through your parents things after they're gone -- or going:

"My beloved mother died a year ago last October, and my father is fading away in a nursing home in Anchorage these days. But I now have pictures of them, from back when they were the handsomest of couples, and me as a squalling child in my mother's arms, maybe 6 months old, waiting to go on his first airplane ride. When you sift through this kind of stuff, the temporary nature of life starts screaming in your ear. In another decade or two, God willing, my kids will have to go through this same process. There are memories that will break your heart in your recollection of them. And there's also a ton of junk, but too nice to throw out, so you leave it to your kids so they can leave it to theirs. Complete column here.

Question: Have you had this experience of going through and cleaning out your parents' things after they're gone or going?