having just helped some with a deceased cousins house, I agree that finding the right home for those things that are important to us is hard--I like the idea of attaching a note with the history and waiting a bit if you can--I've been pleasantly surprised what things each of the kids wants--turns out my son is probably more attached to stuff that is family history than my daughter. And I have to admit that some of the things that I have from grandmothers or my Mom sit in storage when I really should be using them!