After losing both parents, guest author Erica Ivanov returns to the cluttered Victorian house of her childhood and amongst the mess she uncovers the hidden strands of her family's story
This must have been such a difficult experience- I already dread cleaning out my hoarder father's stuff, and that's just stuff, not adjacent to such a heavy grief. I loved your account of it, though, and hope that house has the opportunity to fill with joy
Clearing out the big old house was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I related so much to the last line, of hoping the next family can live out the dreams my mother wanted to, before the weight of grief turned her into a hoarder. I kept trying to give my mother those dreams, so much so I was almost too late to give myself my own. To outsiders I had the privilege of growing up in a beautiful character home, no one knew what was behind the carved oak doors. They'll never know.
This must have been such a difficult experience- I already dread cleaning out my hoarder father's stuff, and that's just stuff, not adjacent to such a heavy grief. I loved your account of it, though, and hope that house has the opportunity to fill with joy
Clearing out the big old house was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I related so much to the last line, of hoping the next family can live out the dreams my mother wanted to, before the weight of grief turned her into a hoarder. I kept trying to give my mother those dreams, so much so I was almost too late to give myself my own. To outsiders I had the privilege of growing up in a beautiful character home, no one knew what was behind the carved oak doors. They'll never know.