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About the Author
The emotional backstories to the objects we keep.

Liz’s Nonni

Liz Sumner and her husband wanted to move to Italy, but they had no family there and no Italian heritage, so Liz was worried that they’d have trouble feeling like they belonged. She joins us to tell us about a memento they found in Italy that helped her put those worries aside.

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Jeff’s Rum Bottle

Jeff keeps an empty rum bottle from the day of his best friend’s funeral 20 years ago. The bottle is a snapshot in time, but Jeff has a more “ethereal” memento from his friend that has ebbed and flowed with the changes in Jeff’s life.

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Bonus: Ruth’s poem “Halloween”

Here’s a treat for Halloween! My guest Bréjean reads her grandmother Ruth’s poem, “Halloween,” written in 1932, when Ruth was 11 years old.

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Ruth’s Poetry

Bréjean finds a folder of her deceased grandmother’s poetry tucked away in a closet and learns that she has a lot more in common with her “prim and proper” grandmother than she thought.

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Jared’s Flock

Jared meets his match in an aggressive little Senegal parrot named Cricket, who ultimately charms Jared and changes his life for the better. Jared keeps a large scarlet macaw feather as a memento of the relationships in his life that led to his becoming a “flock leader.”

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Jared’s Flock

Look at these gorgeous creatures, Helios and Mr. Blue Nibbles the Third!

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Cherie’s Letters

Cherie inherits a stack of 33 letters, written by her grandfather, who died during the Korean War, and who Cherie’s family never talked about. Before receiving the letters, she knew almost nothing about him. She hadn’t even seen a picture of him. But the letters unveil who he was and the fateful decisions he made that affected not only his life but also still affect her life today.

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Crystal’s Hymn

Crystal Chandler finds the perfect memento of her grandfather, a former Seventh Day Adventist preacher, to bring with her when she moves to New York.

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Site update in progress!

I’m in the process of updating the Mementos website. Please check back in a day or two, and everything should be good to go. Thank you! ~ Lori

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