Coming of Age by Madeleine May Kunin

Author:Madeleine May Kunin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Green Writers Press
Published: 2018-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

MY POSSESSIONS ARE MOVED out in separate brigades. Three cars and six Burlington library volunteers arrive on schedule one morning to take away all the boxed books. First Adam and then Daniel help me bring things to the synagogue. Peter brings things to the Goodwill. My friends Nancy and Peter distribute five filing cabinets and a set of bookcases. I arrange for a rug, art books, and a coffee table to be brought to my daughter, Julia, in Brooklyn. The owner of a secondhand furniture store, from whom we bought the dining room table for Wake Robin, comes and decides which pieces to take back on consignment. Slowly, the condo undresses itself. I call “1-800-Junk.”

“We take anything,” the man on the phone says.

“Anything?” I repeat.

“Anything.”

Two medium-sized trucks pull in and stop in front of the garage. I give them everything that is left: flower pots, rakes, old pictures, old pots and pans.

“You sure you want to give us this?” One of the men is holding up a plaster flamenco figure I made when I was taking a sculpture class as a new bride.

I am ruthless. “Yes, take it. Take it, take everything,” I repeat, feeling a sudden surge of fierce happiness.

The driver is having a great time. He finds a silver wig in the trash pile and puts it on. One Halloween I wore it for fun at a staff meeting in the Department of Education. He finds another treasure, a gold cardboard crown studded with glass diamonds, and balances it on top of the sparkling wig. He waves to me from inside the truck, one leg hooked over the wooden side panel. He looks hilarious. I laugh and wave back.

Before he leaves, he takes a wide broom and sweeps the entire garage. I feel cleansed, liberated, light. It is over.

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