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Have you ever broken a promise to yourself for something that unexpectedly connected you to someone you've lost? That's exactly what happened when I subscribed to The New York Times after vowing never to accumulate publications again.

When we moved from our apartment a few years ago, we discovered mountains of magazines and newspaper clippings tucked away in closets and corners—evidence of my fundraising career, my husband's modeling hobby, and our shared love of reading. The sheer volume prompted a solemn vow: no more paper subscriptions. Yet here I am, with daily delivery of The New York Times in all its physical glory.

The newspaper has become more than just a source of information. With its quality reporting and surprisingly superior paper texture, it has unexpectedly transported me back to memories of my former boss Ruth, who always had The New York Times with her in the office. This month would have been her 76th birthday, four and a half years after her unexpected passing. As I turn each page, I feel connected to her unique, quirky personality that left such an impression on everyone she met. The newspaper has become a bridge between past and present, a tangible reminder of someone important.

Now I face a new challenge: the practice of "reading and letting go" rather than saving interesting articles. It's a small but meaningful exercise in impermanence that feels particularly poignant as I simultaneously help organize a memorial service for a friend's mother and set up Halloween decorations in the sweltering heat. Life continues its flow, and perhaps this newspaper subscription is teaching me to appreciate the moment without needing to preserve everything physically.

Join me next week as we tackle another topic together. If this resonated with you, please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast, leave a rating, and share with a friend who might enjoy these conversations about navigating adulthood with humor and light.

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Episode Transcript

Tracy (00:01):
She loved to read.
She loved to take in news.
Welcome to the Only ChildDiaries podcast.
I'm your host, Tracy Wallace.
Have you ever felt like youdidn't receive the how-to
brochure on life, that youdidn't get enough guidance about
major life issues?
So did I.

(00:21):
You don't have to be an onlychild to feel this way.
In my podcast, we'll exploresome of the best ways to better
navigate adulting, while doingso with humor and light.
Welcome everyone to the OnlyChild Diaries podcast.

(00:46):
Today, I want to talk to youabout the New York Times.
Now, it's related to things, sohold on, keep listening.
We recently started asubscription to the New York
Times just because there seemedto be a lot of articles in the

(01:08):
paper that we heard aboutthrough different sources that
we wanted to read.
And, as you probably know, ifyou don't subscribe to a
publication, you can't even readthe articles online.
You can't even read thearticles online.
So we decided to take the jumpand subscribe, and not just

(01:39):
subscribe to the electronicversion, but to really take that
leap and subscribe to the paperversion as well, to be
delivered seven days a week.
We really jumped all in.
Now, this was a big decisionfor us, because if you're a
regular listener, you know that,or maybe you remember that when

(02:02):
we moved out of our apartment,well, I kind of made a pact with
myself to not subscribe everagain to any publications.
We found packed in the closet,packed in some little corners of

(02:23):
the rooms, that there wereboxes and boxes of magazines and
newspaper articles.
And, granted, when I started myjob as my jobs, my career as a
fundraiser, I would comb throughthe newspapers and save

(02:45):
articles about different peoplethat I thought might be
prospects for me, right Forwhatever organization I was
working on working with, and soI would tend to keep a lot of
articles.
I also really enjoyed magazines.

(03:06):
I would go shopping at thegrocery store on a regular basis
and if somebody that I likedwas on the cover, let's say, of
People magazine, I bought theissue.
My husband and I also love tofrequent magazines nearby
Burbank and go see a movie.

(03:27):
Back when we'd go see moviesall the time in person before
COVID, and there was a newsstandover there.
I don't think it's thereanymore.
I think it's really hard tofind a newsstand that had a
variety of all kinds ofdifferent publications,
including magazines from the UKet cetera.
And my husband is a modeler.

(03:50):
He loves airplane model kits,especially World War II
airplanes, and so he would findthese magazines that had often
come from the UK that he wouldbuy maybe two or three or four
at a time and they wereexpensive because they were

(04:13):
imports, maybe $15 or well,let's just say they were
expensive.
So we held onto those.
And he was also looking at bassplayer, like bass player
magazine or different musicianmagazines, and and I also, boy,

(04:34):
I also subscribed to countryliving magazine.
That came to the house and Ihave to say, oh gosh, I really
love magazines and I reallyenjoyed reading the LA times,
love magazines and I reallyenjoyed reading the LA Times.
Because we're in LA and Ireally love the LA Times and I

(04:55):
come from a family that reallyenjoyed their newspapers.
My mom did subscribe to oh gosh, I think, three papers or four
papers.
There's the local paper, shegot the Daily News, she did get
the LA Times and then my dad gotthe paper in the city where he

(05:21):
had spent a lot of his time.
So we got a lot of newspapers.
Okay, so we took the jump, wegot the New York Times.
Now it just started about 10days ago, right.
So, and granted, it's not a hugepaper anymore, like papers were

(05:41):
back in the day when I wasyounger.
Did you notice that?
When I was younger, did younotice that they're smaller?
But I love the New York Timesbecause I think that the
articles are really in depth, Ithink the reporting is really

(06:03):
well done.
Granted, there's probably moreof a liberal slant to it, and
I'm liberal, my husband'sliberal, so that's okay.
I mean, sure, some of thearticles maybe are not on the
liberal side, but that's okay, Iguess um, I'm just joking but

(06:27):
the the articles are really good, they're really well written
and there's always, you know,good photographs.
I like the puzzles.
There's even though I'm not inNew York there's culture,
there's business, there's art,there's all sorts of things.

(06:48):
It's not huge though.
It's not a huge commitment, butsometimes reading the articles
is somewhat of a commitment.
Anyway, I digress.
So, reading the paper, the daysthat we've had it, I've been
reminded of my former boss, ruth, because she always subscribed

(07:14):
to the New York Times and shealways had it around the office.
And this is my boss, the onewho passed away unexpectedly.
She passed away on vacation andshe loved to read, she loved to
take in news.
I believe that she did alsosubscribe to the LA Times.
But she loved the New YorkTimes and reading it, as I have,

(07:39):
and I can't say that I've everreally bought it or I've never
subscribed to it.
Actually, my mother-in-law,when she would come out to visit
, she would go in the morningsto get the paper, usually with

(08:00):
my brother-in-law, and theywould often pick up a New York
Times and I would see herreading it.
She was in Florida, florida,and I think, oh, that's okay,
that's interesting.
But now I understand why.
I understand the attraction tothe paper and the paper itself.

(08:20):
The actual paper that they useis different quality paper.
It's better quality paper thanany newspaper I've ever touched.
Does that make sense?
That's a weird thing to say,but it just seems like it's high
quality paper, it's a highquality product.

(08:42):
Now talk to me in six months tosee if we have a stack of
newspaper around, because for meit's really hard to not keep
things right.
It's just going to be a reallesson in letting go reading and

(09:03):
letting go.
But um, and then there's alsoit's not just me, I have to make
sure that my husband hasingested the paper as well
before before we um put it inthe recycle bin.
But anyway, that's what we'vedone.
And, yes, it does remind me ofmy boss, my boss Ruth, and I've

(09:28):
been thinking about her,especially this month, because
this is her birthday month andshe would have been 76 this
weekend.
Um, she died just over fouryears well, four and a half
years ago now, and she was, youknow, the kind of person that

(09:51):
really really made a uh, animpression on you.
She really made an impressionon, I think, everybody that she
met, um, because she was reallya unique individual, everybody
that she met, because she wasreally a unique individual,
unique in a good way, in a kindof a quirky, let's say quirky

(10:19):
way, but hard to forget.
Let's just say that.
So, anyway, that's my newspapernews, and other than that, we
are proceeding with ourHalloween decorating outside.
We've gotten up I would say,gosh, maybe 20% of, probably not

(10:41):
even 20%, 15%, it's been hotbut it's been humid, probably
not even 20%, 15%, it's been hot, but it's been humid here.
And we have gotten up somethings.
I worked on it yesterday aswell and I was dying it was so
hot until about four, five, andthen it's pretty reasonable

(11:06):
outside, but then you lose thelight around seven, so you have
kind of limited time.
I felt like I had accomplishedsomething and that I did get
everything that's Halloween, Ibelieve out of the garage, and
this was quite a feat becausethe Halloween stuff is behind

(11:26):
the Christmas stuff, which isthe stuff that went in last.
So I had to move a lot of theChristmas stuff out and then get
the Halloween stuff out andthen put the Christmas stuff
back in, and there's a lot, andwe're going to have more
Halloween stuff this year to putin, and that's a little scary
because we're really going tohave to do some major organizing

(11:50):
in the garage to get everythingin.
And it really needs to happen.
It really does need to happen.
But only one person my husbandand I are only two people, let's
put it that way.
What else Still so this week isalso the memorial, finally the

(12:15):
memorial for my friend, myfriend's mother, my friend she's
also my friend Neliya, whopassed away at the end of June.
No, she was cremated, so no,she's not going to be there
because that would be scary.
But it's finally the MemorialMass and the Celebration of Life

(12:36):
lunch that's coming up onFriday, and so I've been helping
to plan that with her daughter,and so there's just a lot to do
, but I'm trying to get tofinish the interview that I
recorded with Leslie that you'veheard about, you've heard me

(12:57):
talk about, you've heard me talkabout this.
So lots to do.
Fall is a busy time.
I hope that all of you areexperiencing some cooler weather
, wherever you are, and I feellike the summer weather is going
to last for a while longer.
But that's just me.
Now I have to go out and workon some Halloween decorations

(13:20):
Next week.
Work on some Halloweendecorations.
Next week we're going to tackleanother topic together.
I hope you'll join me.
If you like this episode.
Please follow the Only ChildDiaries podcast on Apple
Podcasts or other platforms.
You might listen on andconsider rating Only Child

(13:42):
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Please share it with a friendyou think might like it as well.
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Thanks for listening.
I'm Tracy Wallace and these arethe only child diaries.