| Edition |
First G.P. Putnam's Sons edition. |
| Description |
279 pages, [8] unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Note |
"First edition published by Penguin Random House Canada, 2014"--Title page verso. |
| Summary |
The author traces the aftermath of her parents' deaths after years of caregiving, describing the difficult process of settling their affairs and sifting through family mementos while struggling to reconcile painful family dynamics. |
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"A warm, heartfelt memoir of family, loss, and a house jam-packed with decades of goods and 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 middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, twenty-three 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"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
Never mind the dog -- Part I. Endings. Mum's will ; Hornet's nest ; Point o' view ; Dancing till the end ; Good-bye, Mum -- Part II. Inheritance. Other mothers ; Unpacking the past ; A fate worse than death ; Appraisals ; Buried treasure -- Part III. Dispersal. Two weddings and a funeral ; Dividing what remains ; Earthquake ; Careful what you wish for ; Separation ; Hong Kong farewell -- One last look. |
| Subject |
Johnson, Plum -- Family.
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Adult children of aging parents -- Family relationships -- Canada.
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Caregivers -- Canada -- Biography.
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Aging parents -- Care -- Canada.
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Parent and adult child.
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Families -- Psychological aspects.
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Johnson, Plum -- Homes and haunts -- Ontario -- Oakville.
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House selling -- Psychological aspects.
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House furnishings -- Psychological aspects.
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Personal belongings -- Psychological aspects.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Literary.
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FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS -- Death, Grief, Bereavement.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Personal Memoirs.
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| Genre/Form |
Autobiographies.
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| ISBN |
9780399184093 (hardcover) |
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0399184090 (hardcover) |
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9780143191872 (ePub) |
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