They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson should be required reading for anyone downsizing the family home. It’s a touching memoir about the challenges of physically getting rid of decades of both mental and physical “stuff”. After her mother dies the author is left with the job of emptying a 23 room house. Thinking all she has to do is buy a lot of black garbage bags she is unprepared for the difficulties of processing all the memories and mixed feelings that have festered during years of caregiving. Ultimately optimistic and forgiving, the book is a wonderful journey, leavened with humor.