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Mary Rowen Horgan's avatar

Aw, Karen, this hits in all the right places. We've done lots of cleaning out over the past couple of years--Mike's mom's place, my mom's place, our attic--so I feel all of it. (Both moms are in assisted living, BTW, doing ok.) And yes, I tossed a lot of letters, etc., that I absolutely don't want my kids reading when I'm gone. It takes courage to revisit your former self though. Not only "Who was this guy?" but "Who was I and what were my goals?" Almost as many questions as answers. We'll get through these next few years, I think. xox

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Karen Harris's avatar

I think so, too Mary. I did give my young self some slack from doing this...xo

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Morgan Cohen's avatar

Wow this is so great. Thank you toiling away so hard on it and sharing it with us!

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Carolyn Harris's avatar

Great!

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Karen Harris's avatar

Thanks, Mom xo

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Monica's avatar

Our basement flooded a couple of years ago which prompted a massive clean-out of things we needed an excuse to toss and things that just got ruined. Two huge dumpsters (consecutively) stayed parked in the driveway for months while we renovated, greeting us each morning and when we came home from work. For those months, I thought “what else can we get rid of?” almost every day. Two overstuffed keepsake boxes (bought decades ago from Marshall’s) of letters from camp friends and old boyfriends have survived this long mainly because I have an unhealthy relationship with correspondence paraphernalia. I loved reading this Karen, thank you for keeping us grounded. xo

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Karen Harris's avatar

I did it again. See the restackalackadaizy xo

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Paula Grillo's avatar

Ooh, I needed this. Thank you, Karen, for providing a deep breath I was so desperate for. xo

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Karen Harris's avatar

You’re a deep breath and hope for the future my love

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Maggie Dietz's avatar

I really needed to read this today. Thank you, Karen!

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Keira's avatar

My love! There are so many delights that I need to lay them out:

trick pie on a sill,

the profound things mixed in with old lip smackers!

the excellent list of concert tickets

the going places lunch box

I just loved loved loved this section so much: "Whether ancient or just old, remembered things can place us. I think about history and patterns of suffering and loving, all happening, right now. There’s my sweet angel dog Hank dying, and a puppy next door yipping. There’s my son’s laughing, and families fighting, and my daughter teaching in the same beloved place I did. There’s chicken marbella, and hand holding. There are vital jobs lost, people crossing busy city streets safely, phones found, dates kept, sad texts, bad news, and babies latching on, nursing. All of it.

It’s ongoing, and so are we. We don’t “just” keep going. But we do keep going."

You weave together so many beautiful and hard moments. It's gorgeous! xoxo

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