Now that Mom is in AL, I am going through items of hers that we were storing in our house. There is a basket full of belts - woven betls, fabric belts, sashes. About 20 or so of them. Can I give the belts away? Mom hasn't used them or asked about them or mentioned them in over 2 years. They are actually probably too big for her because she lost a lot of weight after her heart surgery / stroke just over 2 1/2 years ago.
Maybe I'm answering my own question but I need someone to nudge me and tell me it's okay.
So, yes, they do sometimes think about those belts and makeup. That doesn't mean you should keep them -- you can't keep everything. I'm just saying that you'll be surprised what things she might ask about.
I do have to say however if you have any siblings that may want something, ask them if they can think of anything they want before you get rid of it. My younger sister is very hurt that when our father died she was not given anything. My older sister took all of his ties. They were giving away all his church shirts and I snagged all of them thinking I would make quilts for each of us as a remembrance but they are sitting in storage as Mom takes all my time now. I explained to her that we never divided any of Dads stuff because Mom was still alive and wanted everything. When Mom goes then we will go through all of their stuff and divide it between us. The funny thing is the one item that I was told there would be a fight over is a square tin box that held Chinese cookies that were given to my Dad by a woman down the street as a Thank You gift. It's isn't pretty and it is beat up and paint is missing, but everyone knew that as the cookie tin he and Mom ate their cookies out of for about 30 years. No one knows except a couple of us that my niece asked my Mom for it and Mom gave it to her in her Trust......Uh Oh!!!!!! Now is when you would hear ominous music playing!!!