Soon after her marriage in 1952, Ellen Rogers’ mother, Fay, bought a coordinated(配套的) bedroom ensemble(全套、套装) – a floral dressing gown and matching bedspread. The day I talk on the phone with Rogers, she has made a tough decision – she is putting the gown and bedspread in a garbage bag to be sent off to(送往、寄出) a charity shop(慈善商店). “I feel so bad,” she says.
1952年结婚后不久，艾伦·罗杰斯的母亲费伊买了一套配套的卧室用品——一件碎花睡袍和一条相配的床罩。在我与罗杰斯通电话的那天，她做了一个艰难的决定——把睡袍和床罩装进垃圾袋，准备送到慈善商店。“我感觉很糟糕，”她说。
Fay died in May aged 97, and had lived in the same terrace house(排屋) in Camperdown in inner Sydney her whole life. Rogers grew up in the house and returned three years ago to be a live-in carer(住家看护) for her mother. Now she’s cleaning out(清理、清空) the house so it can be sold. The decisions she must make are endless; which pile for what item – family, rubbish or charity? “It’s overwhelming(令人不堪重负的) – there’s so much,” Rogers says, “including every bloody(该死的（加强语气）) card she ever received.”
费伊于五月去世，享年97岁，一生都住在悉尼内城区坎珀当的同一栋排屋里。罗杰斯在这栋房子里长大，三年前搬回来做母亲的住家看护。现在她正在清理房子，以便出售。她必须做出的决定没完没了：哪件物品该归入哪一堆——留给家人、扔掉还是捐给慈善？ “太让人受不了了——东西太多了，”罗杰斯说，“包括她收到的每一张该死的卡片。”
Through winter, Rogers moved through the house alone, trying to focus on the task but not always succeeding. Her three brothers are elsewhere(在别处). “It’s quite lonely and I hate this house because it’s so cold. I just wish I could speed up(加快) the process but I can’t. Some days I’m right on to it, and then other days I just can’t, because it’s very emotional – and I’m not really an emotional person.(有些日子我干劲十足，可其他日子我就是不行，因为太情绪化了——而我并不是一个情绪化的人。)”
整个冬天，罗杰斯独自一人在房子里整理，努力专注于任务，但并不总能做到。她的三个兄弟都在别处。“很孤独，我讨厌这栋房子，因为太冷了。我只希望能加快进度，但我做不到。有些日子我干劲十足，可其他日子我就是不行，因为太情绪化了——而我并不是一个情绪化的人。”