Nora Ephron
Yesterday Nora Ephron lost her 6-year battle with leukemia. She was 71.
You may not recognise her name but you’’ll know her films.
Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail….Nora wrote screenplays for some of the most memorable romantic comedies of all time
She wrote romances that centered around strong minded and independent female characters. She wrenched Hollywood out of the era of airheaded, love-struck bimbos and gave us women in love – who were still women we could admire.
Two years ago, realising that she was close to death, Ephron wrote a book called “I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections”. In it, she included this list of what she would and would not miss about life.
It is beautiful, and we wanted to share it with you.
What I Won’t Miss:
- Dry skin
- Bad dinners like the one we went to last night
- Technology in general
- My closet
- Washing my hair
- Bras
- Funerals
- Illness everywhere
- Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism
- Polls
- Fox TV
- The collapse of the dollar
- Bar mitzvahs
- Mammograms
- Dead flowers
- The sound of the vacuum cleaner
- Bills
- E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.
- Small print
- Panels on Women in Film
- Taking off makeup every night
What I Will Miss:
- My kids
- Nick
- Spring
- Fall
- Waffles
- The concept of waffles
- Bacon
- A walk in the park
- The idea of a walk in the park
- The park
- Shakespeare in the Park
- The bed
- Reading in bed
- Fireworks
- Laughs
- The view out the window
- Twinkle lights
- Butter
- Dinner at home just the two of us
- Dinner with friends
- Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
- Paris
- Next year in Istanbul
- Pride and Prejudice
- The Christmas tree
- Thanksgiving dinner
- One for the table
- The dogwood
- Taking a bath
- Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
- Pie
(Source: I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections; Image: Nora Ephron, via.)
What would be on your list?
 miss when I die’ on http://www.mamamia.com.au){kind=link}
Comments
28 Comments so far
I will miss:
My partner, my crazy family, cuddles, cuddles with my dog, my garden, sunshine on my face, swimming, swimming at the beach, the beach, laughing, reading in bed, my bed, being silly, the smell of rain on a hot summer day, the feel of rain on my skin on a hot summer day, listening to rain in bed, chocolate, coffee, chai tea, green tea, peppermint tea, food.
I won’t miss:
Cancer, ironing, intolerance, telephone scammers, work, narrow-mindedness, illness, cancer
loading...
Things I will miss
Family, friends, Canberra, bubble wrap, imagination, being a nerd, food, travelling, getting hopelessly lost on a road trip and just.”winging it”
Things I wont miss
Coffee, public transport, closeminded-ness, wars, the majority of celebs (esp the Kardashians)
loading...
I love reading all these comments!
I agree with most of them but would add:
Miss
my little boy
walking on a crisp winter morning and seeing the birds and the trees in the place where I live
cuddles with my husband
laughing
cheese
lamb
oysters
the ocean
swimming
the river in Guildford
cold beer
bbq’s
spending time with friends
gossip
rice with sambal
travel – even getting on the plane and going through the airport
books
Won’t miss
working full time
computers
the television
traffic
team sports
temperatures above 30 degrees
temperatures below 15 degrees
loading...
I was prepared to be somewhat cynical about this, but I can’t be. I’d miss everything and not miss nothing (I know, looks like bad grammar), but to me, simply being alive is great and even the things that annoy me are just part of being alive.
loading...
Miss:
Sunshine on my face
Fresh white bread with butter
Floating in a pool
Dinners with my family teasing each other
Noosa
Coffee with close friends
Start of movies in cinemas when you don’t know what to expect
Walking in bush land
Pure joy of harvesting own veggies
Babies asleep in your arms
Watching my children sleep
Smiles across the room with hubby when we are thinking the same thing
Watching my kids play outside happily with each other
Not miss:
Passive aggressive people
Diets
Washing clothes (hate and resent!!)
Illness
Morning rush to school
Money troubles
Never knowing what to cook for dinner!
Weeds
loading...
I love that almost all of the things people will ‘miss’ can’t be bought. Says a lot about what really makes us happy in life doesn’t it!
loading...
Very sad news. I’m going down to Blockbuster tomorrow to hire out some classic Ephron romcoms.
Her list of ‘things I won’t miss’ brought tears to my eyes.
RIP, Nora. Thanks for the laughs, the sad tears and the happy ones too.
loading...
I love Nora Ephron’s books. If you haven’t read them, do yourself a favour…. She’s a wonderful writer. RIP
loading...
Won’t miss: nits, eczma, the sound of kids whining/ whinging, rushing to get to work
Will miss: coffee, red wine, gym, tv, dolling myself up, alone time, hot baths, kids and husband, restaurants
loading...
I will miss:
Puppy breath as they lick my face
The smell of new-born babies
Watching my children sleeping
My enormous and insanely comfortable bed
Sunday breakfast
Saturday papers
Cracking open a new book
Cracking open a bottle of wine
The beach in winter
Head massages
Laughter for no reason at all
Paris
I will not miss:
Voting
Arranging green slips and car rego
Bad coffee
Rugby League
Spanx knickers
The liberal party
Talk-back radio
Internet Trolls
Brussel sprouts
Cleaning the oven
Jet lag
Dubai airport
loading...
+1 for jetlag. The most hated of lags…
loading...
Agree 100% on all of yours!!!
Just want to add another thing I would miss:
* the smell of rain.
loading...
Voting? There are women who fought for that right who would be rolling in their graves at hearing that.
Democracy is ALWAYS a gift! Its powerful!
loading...
Agree wholeheartedly @rubylovessarah.
And yet … most elections, I really can’t be arsed. And that’s as much an indictment about our politicians than anything else. It hasn’t stopped me from turning out every election since I turned 18, but goodness me, it’s a depressing prospect most occasions.
First world – and safe, smug, democractic – problem, I know.
loading...
nice list
personally I think puppy breath and the smell of new babies is the same smell.
loading...
Oh bugger.
What a loss to the world of storytelling. I admire anyone who can write comedy. And she not only did it well, she wrote some of the lines that will be remembered for years. We roll our eyes now (because it was copied so many damn times) but how funny was the original “I’ll have what she’s having” line from When Harry Met Sally? That scene became a cinema classic.
It’s cold comfort to her family, I guess, but her work and her humour and her take on life lives on in film.
loading...
No fake orgasm gag will ever come close. Nora Ephron was a legend.
loading...
She was a fabulous writer, with a wonderful ability to bring quirky, cute, interesting and admirable people to life. I will miss her films and writing. RIP.
loading...
I would miss a thousand things but here are a few off the top of my head – skiing, eating dinner on the beach during the summer, baking cupcakes, the sound of my grandmother’s chuckle when she finds something really amusing, Christmas lights, driving at night when there’s nobody else around, talking to my mum, discovering excellent music, having Thai and ice-cream with my friends, kissing my boyfriend hello.
I wouldn’t miss alarm clocks, public transport, bananas, silly people, winter, having showers in winter, getting dressed in winter, long plane rides and/or car trips, real estate prices, going to uni on a Friday night.
loading...
I’m so with you on your “won’t miss” list, Natalia – bananas! Erk. Nasty slimy things. And it takes a real act of courage to get into the shower these winter mornings – but first it takes courage to get out of clothes first. Aaargh!
loading...
Such a beautiful list….
I’d miss – everyone I love, the feeling of home, swimming at the beach, tea, crushes, exploring new places, books, vanilla vodka and lemonade.
I wouldn’t miss – buses, early mornings, Facebook, putting petrol in the car, bills, ridiculous asylum seeker/gay marriage debates.
loading...
Will miss:
Stories, be they books, movies, music or art
Travel, and the experiences it brings – culture, people, food, geography
Warm cosy bed with rain on the roof
Banter with my brothers and sisters
Conversation
Cuddles and giggles with my children
Fresh salmon sashimi with lemon and wasabi
Sex
The beach at dusk ( miss that already)
Walks in the rainforest
Colour
Rainbows
Newborn living things, babies, lambs, pigs, puppies, birds, monkeys etc
The moon
Trees
Creating
Hugs
Won’t miss:
Loud drilling noises, saws, grinders, mowers, motorbikes etc
Whinging
Pain and fatigue
Head colds
The cold
Humidity
Arrogance
Destructive humans
Cauliflower
Loud noises!
Feeding people
loading...
THINGS I’D MISS
- My boyfriend
- My family
- Chicken
- Chicken flavoured things
- Desserts
- Orange juice
- Chocolate
- Reading
- Technology
- Travel
- Puppies
- Sex
THINGS I WOULDN’T MISS
- Work
- Bills
- Politics (every form)
- Diets
- War
loading...
What a great list, maybe I should do one! She also wrote Heartburn, the movie that makes me cry even after it’s over…too close to home perhaps, but obviously well written to make it real. RIP lovely lady
loading...
I loved that book and movie too Julia. meryl and jack – glorious.
loading...
Moving away from the biggies (husband, kids, wider family and friends):
will miss – the beach
wont miss – Australian Federal Politics
loading...
Miss:
- The magically beauty of the sea no matter what the season.
- Roast dinners with all the trimmings
- Wandering around the world on holidays. The fabulous sense of freedom when on holidays from work.
Won’t miss:
- Cruelty of humanity on so many fronts aginst those that are perceived as weak.
- The current obbession withbeayty, diets, fashion etc
loading...
Nooooooo! Such a funny and talented woman. What a loss. RIP Nora.
loading...