The Not-so-Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
My best friend Nora sparked joy in a way that Marie Kondo never could
1.
My best friend is dying.
When I say “best friend,” it never feels like the right word to describe my relationship with Nora. In so many ways, we were extensions of each other. Born on different days but just hours apart. One in the same though always on different paths in life. Brought together with seemingly no rhyme or reason or roommate preferences survey by the NYU housing gods. I loved her like a sister, but almost more because there were no genetic requirements that insisted that I love her. She was my writing partner, my business partner, my life partner, my partner in crime, both petty and fashion. We were supposed to grow old together and retire to the 420-friendly cruise line we were going to start together and have proper burials at sea together.
But now Nora is dying because of a brain tumor. A brain tumor she never even got the chance to treat because her brain hemorrhaged two days ago and has left her with no brain activity and on life support. A brain tumor that we all maybe knew might kill her, but years and years from now — not this week. A brain tumor that we tried but failed to use to get out of having to wait for a table at breakfast last Monday morning…
