She needs to move into a safer location. So she has to pack and sort her stuff...... she will not get rid of anything!! The treadmill...... she barely walks with a cane..... the sewing machine... she can't see to use it..... the thousands of books she can't read.... piles of newspapers......etc...... How can I help her??
On the other hand, if she still believes she's going to use them, that's a lot harder. I haven't found a solution to that.
A sneaky way of doing this is to tell her that she can't take everything and will have to store some of the items in expensive off site storage. The cost of storing on a long term basis might be a detriment.
But unfortunately, if your friend is like my mother, the truth is you are on a hiding to nothing. She's going to be in a foul mood about it for a while, and you may just have to sit on the ground and sigh alongside her. A friend in need...
The only way he would give up some of those books is when I said he is paying the movers by the hour, and moving so many books will be expensive. He could save some money by not taking all of them. Thus he started to toss some of them, like his college text books from the 1940's.
But Dad wouldn't part with his two sets of encyclopedias, one dated 1960 and the other dated 1924. I know how hard it is to part with books, especially very old ones from the 1920's, but those books were falling apart thus not usable any more :(
Have you ever watched those hoarding shows on tv? I might watch a couple of them to give you an idea how the hoarder thinks. It's really very difficult to get them to part with things that are completely worthless. I do understand not wanting to part with a sewing machine or family heirlooms, but old newspapers? Are there any family members who might want to take some of the items into their homes to pass on to their children?
Good luck.