Deborah Way

THEN: deputy editor O, The Oprah Magazine
NOW: creator of @TheKeepthings—stories of lost loved ones inspired by the things they left behind
WORDS: @NYTimes

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

Because I'm terrible on this platform, I forgot to mention this till now, but I wrote a #ModernLove for @nytimes about my post-college flailing time. Many thanks to @danjonesnyt

https://t.co/vFeo3hYYW5

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“My father wasn’t much of a cook, but after my mother became sick with Parkinson’s disease and had trouble running the kitchen, he stepped in to supplement their daily menu with coleslaw, which he loved.” —from Jen Berlfein Burns’ MY FATHER’S MANDOLINE

https://t.co/Z8dNqNZ9sF

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

If you could use a little Christmas magic this post-holiday week, @TeriDrobnick’s beautiful story about the surprise gift she got from her beloved dad should do the trick

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“When his dementia had progressed to the point where he hardly spoke and I was desperate to find a special gift for the man who’d given us all so much…I found this music box made for people with memory decline.” —from @TeriDrobnick’s DAD’S MUSIC BOX

https://t.co/wWV4PslFGL

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

This story—about an Italian grandmother who lived a hard life and was like a "loving wounded bird"—really got me. Poetic and haunting and beautifully written by @RuthBonapace.

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"He’s small, the toothpick man, less than two inches high, his mouth a crater rimmed with uneven teeth. There was once a toothpick woman, like the man except with a dirndl skirt. I do not know what became of her." —from @RuthBonapace's THE TOOTHPICK MAN

https://t.co/jlIwBYjPh4

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

When your great-grandmother is your best friend…

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“I loved being with her and would follow her around with a spiral notebook, pretending to be a journalist so she’d tell me stories about her life growing up.” —from Emily Hall’s MOM-MOM’S “OLD-FASHIONED GIRL”

https://t.co/20CLnUZbyX

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

Beautiful story about a wonderful mother-in-law

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“When my first child was born, I didn’t know I needed help. But Ginger, my mother-in-law, knew. She was as gentle with me as she was with my baby.” —from Martha Bonnie’s LEO THE LION

https://t.co/eJyUIWyhj1

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

When your mom is gone but you still have her spatula. Beautiful story about baking, Iowa appetites, growing up in a funeral home and a mom who nailed it all ❤️

@rachaelray @smittenkitchen @AliceWaters

https://t.co/x41ODh1QpY

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

Shoshana Koch wrote this really moving tribute to her grandfather, Pop, and never once mentioned that his real name was Alan Sagner or that he'd been chairman of the Port Authority *and* the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Goes to show what really matters in the end...

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"Pop could be tough. I can still hear his anger over my lack of political knowledge and involvement. And his alarm at my college boyfriend’s questionable degree of ambition. But he believed in my capabilities..." —from Shoshana Koch's THE POP BRACELET

https://t.co/1iQjWhzPpS

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

@ShandersWrites that's stupid

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

No, it’s not THAT kind of red cap

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“My father was happiest on a windy summer day on Lake Ontario aboard his sailboat, Plum Danish—the realization of a dream he’d had since he was a boy sailing off the shores of Denmark.” —from @WendyDHudson’s THE YOUNGSTOWN REGATTA CAP

https://t.co/LMzQklX1gA

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

A really beautiful and poignant mother-daughter story

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"But before we could even think about life without Mom, we had to get through her funeral. We were supposed to deliver a eulogy, to sum her up in words. In a last-minute decision, we summoned the plates..." —from Amanda Kernahan's THE PLATES

https://t.co/mPVeMW2S4w

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

A really great Keepthings story is included in this @lithub roundup

https://t.co/FeKtR3dv9b

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

Oprah Winfrey has often quoted Toni Morrison's line about what your kids most want from you—do your eyes light up when they walk into the room?—and this beautiful story quotes it too. It also proves that it needn't be a parent—it can be an Aunt Helen. ❤️

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“When she came home from her dream trip, to Jerusalem, and showed me the wooden Wailing Wall, she told me proudly, ‘There’s only seven of these in the whole world!’” —from Nancy Conyers' AUNT HELEN'S WAILING WALL

https://t.co/riahVyVQ9r

[Deborah Way @Deborah_A_Way]

This story is so beautifully told and quietly heartbreaking

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"My first husband was a woodsman—a trail designer and builder—so he often smelled of dirt, sawdust and chainsaw bar oil. [But] at some point he picked up a fancy shave cream...." —from Sarah Kilch Gaffney's STEVE'S MANGO VANILLA SHAVE CREAM

https://t.co/u0i4F1jkXr

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"Being together in silent snowfall, with the quiet hush of skis on the icy tracks, was a specific kind of soul language only we understood." —from Jenn Smits-Kilgus's beautiful story about her dad, KEYS TO WATERVILLE

https://t.co/f3owp9xYfs

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

"When my brother was seven and I was three, our mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died the following year. Daddy told my aunt, 'I'll never be happy again.' And he really wasn’t." —from Nancy Malcolm's LETTERS TO SANTA, 1958 AND 1959

https://t.co/p3NC4yuwyx

[The Keepthings @thekeepthings]

“My dad was the kind of guy who would drive 15 miles out of town to get gas for a few cents cheaper. He was a woodshop teacher…and a lover of puns and bird-watching, but more than anything he was a perfectionist.”—from @rndkathryn’s DAD’S L-SQUARE RULER

https://t.co/YjKh8b4n6H