My mom died two years ago to the day that I'm writing this. My dad is getting re-married next year and he's now selling the house where my siblings and I grew up. It's the only place we ever called "home," and I never imagined having to clear it out. It felt like something that would always be there. But part of being an adult is facing the clichéd-but-true realization that everything comes to an end, whether you're prepared or not.
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When I told my girlfriend I was writing an article about moving out of the house I grew up in, she said, "why the fuck should anyone care?" and maybe she's right. However, there's something almost mythical about North American suburbs and nuclear family homes like mine. It's evidenced by their treatment in our pop culture, the ever-lauded films of John Hughes and 80s Spielberg, in the literature of Jeffrey Eugenides and Jonathan Franzen, and the entire emo-punk genre. Home and family are individual yet universal. Everyone wants a peek at the stories hidden behind the picket fences because everyone knows how weird their own versions are.I knew there was a lot of stuff hidden away in my bedroom. I wasn't quite sure what I'd find or how I'd feel about it. So without much warning I hopped on a plane from Vancouver to Ottawa, unprepared for what I would discover by cleaning out the house that I had lived in since birth.
A Knockoff Fleshlight
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Birthday Cards from My Mom
Empty Salvia Bottle
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Letters from Ex-Girlfriends
Brass Beater Ring
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