(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Coming up on "Legacy List with Matt Paxton."

- Good to see you.

- So nice to see you.

- Really good to see you.

- [Announcer] It's bon voyage, as Matt helps a woman with a downsizing challenge.

- Do you know how small of a box you're gonna ship?

- Less than a car full.

- Wow.

- [Announcer] She has to pack up all her personal belongings into just a few boxes and move to France.

- And you have a full house here.

- Scary, it's really scary.

(bright music) - [Matt] Moving into a new home is exciting.

But decluttering and downsizing can be an emotional journey.

- [Homeowner] We need your help.

- I can see, I see a lot of collections already.

- It's paralyzing.

- [Matt] That's why it's important to start with a Legacy List.

It's a list of a few cherished items with high emotional value that help tell your family's story.

- Oh!

- Oh!

- My name is Matt Paxton and I have the best job in the world.

Me and my team of experts help people downsize their homes and move, but we also help them find their Legacy List.

- [Homeowner] You made my dream come true.

- I can't believe it.

- This is why we do this.

(bright music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Bekins Van Lines.

At Bekins, our goal is to provide a smooth and simple moving experience.

No matter the size or distance of your move, Bekins is ready to help you get there.

You can find us at Bekins.com.

Bekins, this is moving.

FirstLight Home Care, committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at FirstLightHomeCare.com.

(bright music) - Today I'm in Ann Arbor, Michigan to visit Ally.

She is retiring and moving to Europe.

She needs our help downsizing and decluttering her home as quickly as possible.

Because Ally doesn't have a lot of time, and she's definitely not gonna have a lot of space.

(door knocking) - Ally.

- Matt.

- Good to see you.

- So nice to see you.

- Really good to see you.

- So glad you're here.

- Thank you, this neighborhood is gorgeous.

- [Ally] Thank you.

I've enjoyed it, I've been here for 15 years.

- 15 years.

- Yep.

- The calls I get are all pretty much the same.

I love your story 'cause it's different.

Tell us what's happening in the next few weeks and then what's gonna happen after that.

- So, I'm retiring.

I am done.

Then I have some traveling to do, and then I have to get my house ready 'cause I'm going to move to France.

I have wanted to do this for a very long time, I've talked about it with my best friend.

She's kind of in a similar situation with no kids, and both of her parents are gone and so we're gonna do it together.

- She's going with you?

- Which gives me a little bit of extra courage, right?

- So many people say they wanna retire and go to Paris.

(Ally chuckles) How romantic.

Right, and then they can't even clean out their junk drawer.

- Right.

- [Matt] Are you cleaning this house out, what are you gonna do?

- I actually started cleaning this house out right after my father died.

My mom died, then my dad died, and I had to clean out 81 years of life, 53 years of marriage in three weeks.

- Wow.

- I'm planning on donating as much as I can.

You know, it's like I actually read your book.

(Ally chuckles) - Yes.

- And it's like, you know, I probably wouldn't get a lot of money for my stuff, you know, which is somewhat disappointing, but it's true.

So I need your help, you and your team to help me figure out what to do with some of the stuff that I have that I haven't been able to go through yet.

- I mean, I'm looking around, you have a full house here.

- I do.

- Do you have a metric, do you know how small of a box you're gonna ship or?

- Less than a car full, I would say.

- Less than a car, wow.

- Yes, so I have a lot of stuff I need to- - Oh, I love that.

- Figure out what to do with.

- All right, well, you called the right guy.

I know how to get rid of stuff.

- Well, I still have some stuff that I haven't quite figured out what to do with yet that I could really use your help with.

- Okay, where is that?

- It is this way.

- All right, let's do it.

(upbeat music) Okay, this is more my style.

- Yeah, you should feel right at home here.

- I like it.

All right, I do see one thing over here.

We are in Michigan.

- Football is big in Ann Arbor.

You may have heard of the Michigan Wolverines.

- I've heard of 'em.

- We literally are just a mile from the stadium, so we usually walk to the games.

We call it tailgate season, when fall hits.

- It's every Saturday, right?

- Every Saturday.

- These are not pink flamingos.

- They're not pink.

And don't you dare call this yellow, this is maize.

- Maize.

- Maize and blue.

These are my maize and blue flamingos for football season.

- How do you give this up?

- They might have to go.

- I mean, this means nothing in France, right?

- Wouldn't these be great in France.

(chuckles) - Well.

The garage is a maybe pile.

It's not trash, it's not donate, it's not sell, it's absolutely her putting off the decisions and we're now at the point where she has to make decisions.

So walk me through, what are the Legacy List items- - All right.

- I'm looking for?

- Music is a big part of my life, it was a big part of my dad's life.

Every Saturday night I went to bed with music blaring in my house.

And so it's just a really good memory.

I actually saw Elvis in concert.

It was 1977.

- So barely alive, but you saw him.

- Barely alive, yes, but I did see him, and I've got that ticket stub somewhere.

- Okay.

What other Legacy List items do you have?

- All right, so my mom actually worked for the FBI in the late '50s, early '60s.

And she actually received three hand-signed letters from J. Edgar Hoover.

- Wow.

- Apparently the FBI was a much smaller organization back then.

And she could never tell us what she did.

- Ever?

- Ever.

- Did you even know she worked there?

- Did know she worked there, and we would ask, but got no answer.

- Ever.

- Nope, she's just like, "I can't tell you."

- And she took it with her?

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's so cool, man.

- So those letters are somewhere, I wanna keep those.

- Yeah, that's history either way.

- Yeah.

(pen scratching) There's a music box I really hope you can find that plays Laura's theme from "Dr.

Zhivago."

- Okay.

- But my dad was on a business trip, brought it home to me and said, "Hey, this is from Dr.

Zhivago."

And I thought some man named Dr. Zhivago gave me a music box.

And I was like, that's really nice.

So I definitely want to take that with me.

(soft music) I know this doesn't look like a really big pile, but there's a lot of things in here that represent a lot of feeling and emotion for me over the years and so it's really important to me.

- I know who I'm gonna call, I'm gonna bring Avi in, and we are gonna go through this pile, and then I have an idea for later on a little exercise that you and I can do to help you get ready.

- All right.

- I appreciate you calling us.

- Awesome.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

(bright music) - Oftentimes some of our projects with families, they're coming out of a difficult situation.

In this case, Ally has a lot to look forward to.

She's really excited about the next steps, and we wanna help propel her into that.

Hey.

- What's up, man, how are you?

- I heard you were out here, man.

- Picking away.

- Yeah, about right where I left you.

- Good to see you, man.

- How you doing, man?

- We're doing well.

All right, you can tell by these colors we are in football country, man.

- Go blue, as they say.

- What do you think?

- Ah.

(chuckles) - So apparently the stadium is less than a mile away.

They walk to every game.

It's a huge part of her life, huge part of her life.

- I wonder how she's gonna transition from that.

I mean, that is an experience in itself.

- That, I agree.

What are you finding over there?

- Check this out, man.

- J. Geils Band.

What an album this was, man.

- How this has turned into a piece of art, right?

- That's awesome, when you got a house.

- Right.

- When you only got a little apartment in France, how awesome is that?

(Avi chuckles) It's gonna be tough.

- Where are you gonna put it all?

- Oh, do you remember these?

- What, is that the Looney Tunes glass?

- This is the Looney Tunes Glasses.

The Beaky Buzzard, holy cow, these are from Hardee's.

- [Avi] My favorite was Speedy Gonzalez, man.

- Look at this, Porky Pig.

- Oh man.

- Holy cow.

Dude, these are in perfect condition.

The Road Runner, man, these are super collectible.

Like if this is the full set, it's like six to $800.

These glasses are a great example of the hard choices that Ally is gonna have to make over the next couple weeks.

Look at this.

- [Avi] What is that?

- This is the complete Hanna-Barbera set.

- Man.

- What did I teach you when we used to clean out houses?

What do you do on every book?

- Oh, you open every book.

- Open every book.

Might be some money there.

- You never know.

- You never know what you find.

- All right, Avi, come help me on this, man, I got... - What you got?

- [Matt] Too many books to go through.

- [Avi] Little books.

Oh, snap.

- Wait, look at that.

That my friend is why you go through books.

- Check it out.

- [Matt] Oh, it's a magnet.

It's like a refrigerator magnet with Elvis and the ticket.

- That is wild.

- Oh gosh.

- April 21st, 1977.

Look at this, at the Greensboro Coliseum, man.

- [Avi] A legend.

- Yeah, and he died four months later.

Now that I know Ally, I see how important this Elvis ticket is.

Her first concert with her mom and her dad, and soon after that, Elvis passed.

What an incredible Legacy List item.

- I mean, I remember my first concert and I still have my first concert ticket.

So, I understand what the memories mean to you as you think back to the experience and how enjoyable it was.

- Great job.

Thank you for picking that, man, that was phenomenal.

- [Avi] Glad to find that one.

- [Announcer] The live music industry is worth billions.

Audiences fill stadiums around the globe.

But would you believe the first concert happened in a violinist's home?

The first concert in which an admission was charged took place in the London home of violinist John Bannister, way back in 1672.

For one shilling patrons could enjoy a performance of violin music, no strings attached.

(violin fanfare) By the late 18th century, classical composers like Mozart were having their works played to enthusiastic crowds throughout Europe.

Classical pianist Franz Liszt was the superstar of the mid-nineteenth century.

Audience members tore off his clothing and stole locks of his hair.

The frenzy was called Lisztomania.

(crowd cheering and screaming) As music evolved, so did the venues to hear it.

Bluegrass and jazz found a home in honky-tonks and smoke-filled clubs.

The first rock concert, that's widely considered to be the Moondog Coronation Ball held at the Cleveland Arena in 1925.

It was shut down in less than an hour because of overcrowding.

The concert business is still going strong, but going to see a show will cost you a bit more than a shilling.

The average price for resale tickets to see Taylor Swift's Heiress tour was about $3,800.

As for getting them, you're on your own kid.

(bright music) - Check this out.

- Alycatz, I love it.

(Avi chuckles) Well, she loves cats.

- That's cool.

- She loves cats.

- [Avi] That's cool.

- [Matt] Man, she got some boots.

A lot of shoes.

- [Avi] Yo.

- [Matt] What do you got there?

- [Avi] You looking for a music box, right?

- [Matt] Yeah.

Yeah.

- I think we might have something here.

(soft music) - I have found 100 music boxes, and so I didn't think much when Ally said music box.

And then when Avi found it, it was totally different.

It was much more intimate, much more personal, and I think more sweet.

It's one of the first things that Ally remembers about her dad.

And I think it's one of the reasons she loves music so much.

This is something she can take with her, every time she plays that music she's gonna think of her dad.

- Just that thread, that thread of music and family, seems to be coming through constantly.

(soft music) (moves into bright music) The work started right away when we got here, so I really didn't get a chance to talk with Ally.

And I thought it might be a nice opportunity to venture into Ann Arbor and visit an iconic place where we could sit and have lunch.

- [Ally] So this is Zingerman's, Ann Arbor institution.

- I can't wait.

- Yes.

- Hey, how you doing?

- Doing well.

What can I get you?

- I am gonna have the number 2 Zingerman's Reuben.

- Ah fabulous.

- Yeah, can I have the Benny's Brooklyn?

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, thanks.

- Awesome, thank you.

- When you get to France, you're gonna have your friend.

- Right.

- What's the plan in terms of connecting with people?

- That's a really good question, Avi.

So I've already joined a couple of Facebook groups, you know, to try to just at least see what the conversation's like and then I want to volunteer.

I want to, you know, do different things, whether it's take a yoga class or, but there will definitely be some music involved.

(Ally and Avi laughing) - Always, always.

- I love to have people over and have the music.

- [Avi] So what is it gonna feel like to leave Michigan?

- Michigan itself is gonna be hard to leave because there's just so many good memories I've had here.

- Yeah.

- You know, the football season is just such a great time to be in this town, and it's just great restaurants, I've made great friends.

That's gonna be the hard part about leaving.

- And I'm a big football fan, so I've gotta know, I've gotta know, what is Michigan tailgating like?

- You know, it's a big school, it's like it is a lot of places but in the fall in the Midwest, you know, there's just that crispness in the air and it's just the band is out there marching through the tailgate, you know, getting everybody excited and it's a pretty big deal on an Ann Arbor football Saturday.

- [Announcer] Fans have been getting a kick out of college football for over 150 years.

The first college football game was played in 1869 between Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey, also known as Princeton.

It was a combination of soccer and rugby and the game soon spread to other eastern colleges.

The new sport was violent.

Players got injured, and rules were needed.

Giving a team four downs and having a line of scrimmage, that was all thanks to Walter Camp, the father of American football.

Camp was instrumental in creating the game we know today, but Camp didn't think of everything.

A deaf college team first invented the football huddle in the 1890s so they could sign to each other without the opposing team seeing the plays.

One of the first African Americans to play college football was George Jewett, who played halfback and fullback on the 1890 and 1892 Michigan team.

It would be another 80 years before schools in the South integrated their teams.

By the 1920s, early powerhouses like Army and Notre Dame captured the imagination of an ever-growing fan base.

Games were played in sold-out stadiums and a newfangled technology called radio broadcast all of the action.

Today, lucrative TV contracts and player endorsement deals have taken the game to another level.

But one thing hasn't changed, fans still root for their team with passion.

(fans cheering and applauding) (Avi chuckles) - What do you got there?

- More album covers.

- More albums.

- "Diamond Girl."

(papers rustling) Huh?

- What is that?

- One of these things is not like the other.

- What is that?

- Federal Bureau of Investigations.

- Oh, I know what that is.

- Mrs. Lee Otis Waters.

- Yep.

- Wait a minute, J. Edgar Hoover.

- J. Edgar Hoover.

There should be three of 'em.

- There are three of them.

- So these are her mom's letters.

- Wow.

- These might be bugged.

(Avi laughs) - This paper will explode in five seconds.

- I have been informed that you recently underwent an operation and that you are recovering satisfactorily and I want to urge you to make certain you have completely regained your health before trying to return to work.

Sincerely, J. Edgar Hoover.

And that's his actual signature.

- J. Edgar Hoover.

- Not a stamp.

- 1957, what year is yours?

- Yeah, 1957.

- Wow.

- You know, you can say what you want about J. Edgar Hoover, but the dude had a prominent place in history.

To think that he took the time to write three personal letters to Ally's mom.

- Not about huge events of history, but about events in her mom's life.

- Says a lot about the man and it says a lot about Ally's mom.

You think one of my letters will be a Legacy List item someday?

- Lemme think about that.

No.

- No, yeah, I'm afraid not.

Avi, you found another Legacy List item.

(cheerful music) When people downsize between 50 to 75% of your stuff is gonna have to go.

But for Ally, that number is truly 95%.

I wanted to make this experience very real for Ally, I wanted her to get into the mindset, I gotta let stuff go.

And so we put some boxes together and made some lines on the floor and said, "This is how much space you're gonna have."

We are gonna put 50 years of memories in this square.

As we stood in the box and the box filled up, our space got smaller and smaller and smaller.

And you could see on Ally's face how real it got.

All right, here's the keyboard.

- Okay.

- I'm being- - I know, I know.

- I'm being ridiculous on purpose.

- Scary, it's really scary.

'Cause I'm gonna have to make a lot of decisions.

- Real decisions.

- To, yeah, leave behind.

- I think this exercise worked and it got Ally in the mindset that she's truly gotta start to let even the good stuff go.

People work their whole life and then their stuff holds 'em back.

- No, not gonna happen.

- Okay.

- We're gonna give it to people that can use it, and I will fit in this box.

- Well, you are not meant to fit in any box.

I'm gonna say that, after knowing you.

(cheerful music) What was your goal when you called us and said, "Hey, I want you to come."

- Yeah, well, I think I really wanted you guys to help me go through that pile of items that I'd put together that I just wasn't quite sure what to do with.

And then to obviously help me find those things that I definitely wanted to keep.

- Good news, we've accomplished all your goals.

- Oh.

- We did clear out the garage.

- [Ally] Thank you.

- [Matt] Our other goals here were to help you find the Legacy List items.

- Yeah.

- This is a new part of "Legacy List," we've never done this before, I'm gonna ask you, are you bringing it with you to France?

- Okay.

- First item was not on your Legacy List, it was something I found that I just fell in love with.

- Ah.

Oh.

- These incredible cups.

- 1976, band practice.

My mom would pick me up every Monday from band practice and we would stop and get the new glass.

It was like 14 weeks of summer, and I have the entire collection.

- BTF or repurpose?

BTF is bringing to France.

- I'm really not sure, I'm really not sure.

- Okay, that's in our answer.

So you don't have to make the decision today, but you do have to make it one day.

- Very soon.

(chuckles) - Very soon.

To bring it back to your mom, this is the next Legacy List item.

Here is the letters from the FBI.

- [Ally] These are letters to my mom signed by J. Edgar Hoover.

- What does this mean to you, to know that someone prominent in history, you can say which side of it you wanna be on, and he wrote your mom three letters.

- And I just love it, and for such like, I don't wanna say mundane things, but like ordinary life things.

- [Matt] Yeah.

- [Ally] The birth of a child, her recent marriage.

- [Matt] Tell me more about your mom.

- Such a sweet, sweet woman.

And just the kind of mom, you know, that was always there, always supportive.

- Your mom was not the only fascinating woman in your family.

This is your grandmother.

She worked at a laundry facility and they found a cat and this is her in the paper.

- Oh my goodness.

That is so sweet.

- In 1948.

I just thought it was kind of funny.

- [Ally] I did not know she liked cats.

- Not to be outdone by your other grandmother.

She is in an ad.

She was like an expert at the department store.

- I have never seen that.

- You loved that woman.

- Oh, I loved her, she lived to be 95.

- I thought it was funny.

- I love this.

I love this.

And these two women, like I didn't know either of my grandfathers, so it was just my grandmother's.

- Yeah, strong single women is what kept coming up.

- Yes, okay.

I hadn't even thought about it like that.

- Very strong single woman.

(soft music) - Yeah, these are really special.

- And here you are also a strong, independent woman getting ready to go on a whirlwind journey.

I got a hunch they would think it's pretty cool.

- I think they would, and I think they're the reason I'm doing it.

Well, this is going.

(chuckles) - Okay, it's going now.

- This is small enough, it can go.

- The next item is amazing.

- Ha, yay!

- Your Elvis ticket.

(Ally laughs) I just love it.

- I love him.

- Tell me all about it.

- But my parents used to go every year that he would come around.

They promised me every year, we'll take you next year, we'll take you next year.

Finally, next year came.

- Who'd you go with?

- It was me, my mom, and my dad.

I still remember him walking on stage.

My mom wrote down every song that he sang.

It was an amazing day, I'll never forget it as long as I live.

This is going, - Oh, I absolutely think that would go.

- I don't ever wanna lose this.

- Obviously for you, everything comes back to family.

- [Ally] Yeah, it really does.

- Brings us to our last Legacy List item, this music box.

(soft music) - My dad didn't travel a lot for business, but he had to go to Pittsburgh.

He came home with his music box one time and told me it was from Dr. Zhivago.

So I just figured it was somebody my dad worked with.

But yeah, I just love the picture on it.

I do have an older brother and just, I just, I love this.

Still plays and it just makes my heart happy.

- Obviously this symbolizes your dad and so much more.

- Oh yeah.

- What did your dad teach you?

- He always knew the right thing to say.

And it just, he really taught me to believe in myself.

(bright music) - [Matt] So as you prepare for this next big event, so many of my clients are just spending all their time remembering the past.

I feel like you're just getting ready to get started.

Like you got this whole thing ahead of you.

- It's exciting, like it's just so different.

And for some reason yet it's not scary.

- That's what, that's what's so fascinating, I'd be scared to death.

- Yeah.

- You have a unbelievable strength and confidence behind you.

You just quietly have it.

And I feel like you're just gonna go and kill it.

- Yeah, that's my plan.

Figure out a way to make it happen and take a chance.

(soft music) - [Announcer] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Wheaton World Wide Moving.

Wheaton's number one goal is to help you, your loved ones, and your belongings get to your new home quickly and safely.

You can find us at Wheatonworldwide.com Wheaton World Wide Moving, we move your life.

FirstLight Home Care, committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at FirstLightHomecare.com.

- Is it safe to say traveling to a new country with none of your stuff, all new experiences, it's probably not gonna be the hardest thing you two have ever gotten through together?

- Yeah, probably not.

- No, I'm super excited to do it.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I couldn't imagine going through some of the challenges of my life without her support, honestly, yeah.

- Ally's a hugger.

All right, Ally, same question to you, what do you love most about her?

- Oh my.

No matter what happened in my life, I know that Cheryl will always be there.

(cheerful music) - [Announcer] Visit MyLegacyList.com to learn more about the tips, tools, and professionals to help make your own big life move easier.

Learn more about this episode or submit your story to be featured on the show at MyLegacyList.com (bright music)