photo: linda nylind for the guardian

We were stunned at the news of Nora Ephon‘s passing, wondering how could it be? It seemed like she would always be here. As columnist Liz Smith wrote: “What the hell will we do without you?” 

Ephron told few people of her dire illness, but, we see now, aluded to it in her biography I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections (Vintage). She included two lists: What I Won’t Miss and What I Will Miss:

What I wont miss

Dry skin
Bad dinners like the one we went to last night
E-mail
Technology in general
My closet
Washing my hair
Bras
Funerals
Illness everywhere
Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism
Polls
Fox TV
The collapse of the dollar
Bar mitzvahs
Mammograms
Dead flowers
The sound of the vacuum cleaner
Bills
E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.
Small print
Panels on Women in Film
Taking off makeup every night

What I will miss

My kids
Nick
Spring
Fall
Waffles
The concept of waffles
Bacon
A walk in the park
The idea of a walk in the park
The park
Shakespeare in the Park
The bed
Reading in bed
Fireworks
Laughs
The view out the window
Twinkle lights
Butter
Dinner at home just the two of us
Dinner with friends
Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
Paris
Next year in Istanbul
Pride and Prejudice
The Christmas tree
Thanksgiving dinner
One for the table
The dogwood
Taking a bath
Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
Pie

A strange and beautiful poem that makes us look around.

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2 replies on “nora ephron: ‘what I will miss’ (we miss her already)

  1. thank you for sharing this ,it adds to my day today.

    we miss Mary and her meals, her thanksgiving & xmas
    always.

  2. I miss Mary too, a countless little things…all that color!

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