Nora Ephron, the writer and film-maker who passed away in 2012 from cancer, wrote a list called ‘What I’ll miss, what I won’t miss’.
What I like about her list is how simple, quirky, and specific it is. It’s very human. Reading her collection of likes and dislikes can also help us put things in perspective. I’ve taken a bunch from the list and pasted it below.
What I won’t 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
Fox TV
The collapse of the dollar
Bar mitzvahs
Mammograms
Dead flowers
The sound of the vacuum cleaner
Bills
Small print
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