I just sold my bed. A queen-size bed that no longer fits my down-sized lifestyle. I want smaller, thank you, easier to move. But I am noticing that it’s rather emotional to let go of this stuff like a bed! I’ve shared many a night with that bed, after all. It was a strange contraption – a combination of a fancy Natura bed and a huge mattress on top. The frame has been with me for a decade or so. The mattress only a few years. All of it come with stories, though. After all, two boyfriends have shared that bed with me at some point. And I felt the discovery of the luxurious freedom of choosing to be single in it. Of course, my letting go of it also symbolizes all the other changes going on in my life: Moving from being a single mother to having an empty nest. Exploring a new direction of my work life. Selling the bed crystallizes all this: My life will not be the same going forward. It is a loss and it is a new beginning. Fortunately, I already know that I can sleep well in my new bed: A simple full-size futon couch. Life goes on. In fact, it might even get better without all the old baggage!