real life

Nora Ephron's List: 'The things I will (and won't) miss when I die'

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
– E-mail
– 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?