We've spent the last few weeks cleaning out my (Suzie's) childhood home that my father had built and my family recently put up for sale. It was a daunting task on many levels.

My parents lived there for nearly fifty years until recently, when their health sadly began to decline, and it had been my home for as long as I can remember.

While I haven't lived there in decades, it's always been my sacred fortress that I could retreat to whenever I chose for loving comfort and connections with my mother and father, usually over freshly roasted coffee, delicious homemade dinners, and Italian wine.

Not to mention, it was also a convenient place where I could store my high school and college memorabilia, childhood furniture, and a multitude of other items that my New York City and Philadelphia apartments couldn't afford the space for.

While we sorted through the beloved heirlooms that made up the rooms, fond memories came flooding back. It was as if each item was a magical key to the recesses of my mind where so many of my favorite childhood memories had also been stored for a long time.

It was also overwhelming at times. In addition to the positive emotions that were evoked by looking through cherished mementos, I also experienced what positive psychologists refer to as negative emotions: feelings such as sadness, loneliness, and fear.

There were lots of things to unload and let go of, and we no longer have a place for various pieces of furniture, beautiful ceramics, and random tchotchkes. The hardest things, though, to unpack were the emotional ones.

Some of the thoughts that ran through my mind as I stood in the kitchen and peered through the window that overlooked the backyard were:

I will no longer be able to sit at the kitchen table to enjoy a home-cooked meal with my parents over a good conversation.

I won’t be able to pop in on Mom and Dad and go for a walk in the backyard to take in the natural beauty and hear the birds chirping.

Why did my Mom and Dad have to get sick? Why couldn’t they have remained healthy well into their........

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