People eventually pass, it is a fact.
The vast majority of things eventually depreciate, regardless of initial value.
It took a while, but I've really tried to focus on retaining what has value to me (not just in general).
We kept a lot of things from relatives early on because they owned them.
We've pivoted more to:
1) Things we know for a fact need to be kept (historical records, important documents for closing estates, etc)
2) Things that continue to have value in the present, they are either functional (hey, I have a ladder now!) or sentimental and worth the operational cost (hey, I have a curio!).
I type this in a room with a handful of things, it is a mix of new (computer desk chair) and functional family items (stereo, storage cabinet).
If I can find a use for a family item, that's great, but I'm not going to invent one unless it fits in the above 2 points.
That was long, but I'd say the estate sales aren't necessarily sad. You don't know what was kept and why.
I suspect that grandma was collecting all this stuff to give to her heirs. But those heirs were selling it all for pennies.
It was all kind of sad.