“Mom was not happy to see it go though... she got attached to things.”
When we sold the house, my Mom still had an old broken console-ish contraption (broken) in the basement; some dude gave $50 for it when we had a yard sale. Better than me having to haul it out (also not laminated veneer, but solid hardwood) and hope the garbage men took it.
That stuff was back in the day when it HAD to look “good” as furniture as well as be functional. It lasted us a long time, served it’s purpose, and she got her money’s worth out of it.
All in all, it was a better time. Everything is so throw-away now.
We got used to having everything cheaper, faster, and not necessarily better.