They Left Us Everything: A Memoir
Description
A warm, heartfelt memoir of family, loss, and a house jam-packed with decades of memories.After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents--first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year old mother--author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, 23 rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought: "How tough will that be? I know how to buy garbage bags."
But the task turns out to be much harder and more rewarding than she ever imagined. Items from childhood trigger difficult memories of her eccentric family growing up in the 1950s and '60s, but unearthing new facts about her parents helps her reconcile those relationships, with a more accepting perspective about who they were and what they valued.
" They Left Us Everything" is a funny, touching memoir about the importance of preserving family history to make sense of the past, and nurturing family bonds to safeguard the future."
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About the Author
Reviews
"
["They Left Us Everything"] is the kind of slim, unassuming memoir that hits you deep in the gut . . . Amid the scraps of paper left in jacket pockets, family photos and pieces of furniture, part of the everything our parents leave us with are our memories of them, good and bad. Perhaps figuring out what to do with them is as close to a manual for grief as we get. "National Post
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Johnson writes with clarity, wit and a powerful descriptive voice that makes the rambling family home she moves back into for 16 weeks a character in itself. "NOW Toronto
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A fascinating and delightful story a satisfying and thought-provoking book. "The Parry Sound North Star
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Each word of"They Left Us Everything"is heartfelt and moving. We are privy to Johnson s emotional journey to the point that it feels like she is part of our own family. Her story lingers inside, touching the soul. "newz4u.net
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At times heartbreaking and at others hysterically funny . . . the book s descriptive prose brings [the] places and people to life and poignantly conveys the quasi-spiritual journey that helps Johnson overcome her grief. "Publishers Weekly
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[Johnson] takes you along on a journey that is emotional, humorous, and candid. Newstalk 1010"
"Beautifully observed and written with great warmth and wit. . . . A story of love, loss, and legacy, written with compassion and humour." --RBC Taylor Price jury citation
"["They Left Us Everything"] is the kind of slum, unassuming memoir that hits you deep in the gut. . . . Amid the scraps of paper left in jacket pockets, family photos and pieces of furniture, part of the "everything" our parents leave us with are our memories of them, good and bad. Perhaps figuring out what to do with them is as close to a manual for grief as we get." --"National Post""
