Ann insisted that Lucy mail the garbage bag to her. When it arrived the next day (because Lucy had Fed Ex'ed it overnight) Ann said, "it was larger and more terrifying than I had expected."
But, as she began the process of opening the letters and putting them in stacks, she realized that it wasn't nearly as bad a either of them expected. Some of it was fan mail. Ann soon got it all organized. She was able to take care of much of it herself.
It's a sweet, short. positive vignette in the midst of a powerful, ultimately tragic story.
I, myself, have had some interesting times trying to help people get their lives organized. Some were paying taxes for the first time. Some were renters who were dunned with a late payment every single month. Some were my kids. One was my husband. Unfortunately, my willingness to "help them" was usually misguided.
At some point, I had to accept that everybody is not like me - and that, in many ways, is a very good thing. Getting organized isn't easy. Yesterday I spent a long time on the phone talking with a friend who is overwhelmed with Christmas. "I'm spending money like a drunken sailor," she said. I wanted to suggest that I'd sit down with her and draw up a Christmas budget.
But that's not what she needs from me.
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