You May Ask Yourself, My God What Have I Done
Most of us who have scraped and finnagled our way into our brownstones know the feeling of awe that sets in that first time you’re alone in your house and you think, “Holy Shit!” Colin Harrison describes that moment 20-odd years ago in his essay this week in New York Magazine: We moved into our…
Most of us who have scraped and finnagled our way into our brownstones know the feeling of awe that sets in that first time you’re alone in your house and you think, “Holy Shit!” Colin Harrison describes that moment 20-odd years ago in his essay this week in New York Magazine:
We moved into our Brooklyn house, a big creaking brownstone in Park Slope. Four floors. Seven bedrooms, three baths. Seven mantels. Walnut detail throughout, never painted. Sure, it needed a little work: They all do. We were deliriously excited. This was our house now? In the hours just after the closing, my wife and I lay on the dusty parquet floor of the empty living room gazing up at the impossibly high ceilings. How would we fill this big house? How would we populate it? What life would we live that otherwise would never occur?
The Deal We Made [NY Magazine]
I gotta think that many of us have cared for elderly relatives and it IS very hard. But they didn’t really give it very long, did they? And they didn’t sell the house and give her the money back either, did they? Her money could have bought her better than the only place in Brooklyn with an available bed. What was the mad rush anyway?
that last post was intended for everyone with there holier than thou attitudes.
get a grip.
I agree with the last poster. It was a very honest story. I found it moving. It did not sugar coat the fact that caring for an elderly relative can be very hard, physically, financially and emotionally – especially if they’ve been predisposed to being quite snarky most of their lives. People should get off of their high horses on this one, really.
Is it really that Kathryn Harrison? ewwww.
…and since Nana is dead anyway and only spent a few months strapped to a wheelchair in the old age home from hell. I guess it did work out in everybody’s best interests, especially since those people still get to live in their nice brownstone in Park Slope that they paid for with her money. YAY!
I found it to be an amazingly honest portrayal, about making sacrifices, and difficult decisions that were ultimately in everybody’s best interests.
What was the deal they made anyway? Was it have a baby and get a brownstone? I think it was (and that’s weird). But it could also mean trade Nana for a brownstone and then basically screw Nana.
And of couse Colin and his wife have had other ‘Holy Shit!’ moments. “Holy Shit! What do you mean you french kissed your father?”
This story is so distasteful, why would anyone publicize their callousness like this — just in time for the holidays. gross.
Couldn’t they have looked for a better nursing home instead of putting Nana in a place where they tied her to a chair. She seemed like a demented old bat, but still…
As for the expense — how about a home equity loan???
I like how they got frustrated when she started acting all old and everything. WAHHHHH!! Stop draggin’ us down Nana!
And really, is baby eating out of the dog bowl the bottom? Cause that has happened in my house and there’s no Nana here. Shoot, that has happened in my house and I didn’t even quicken my step!