Interviewed by Leslie Lindsay
I’ve no heirlooms of my grandmother’s. Nothing even, of my mom’s. The one factor I’ve of my great-grandmother’s is a black and white photograph of a ruinous nation retailer that I took myself when visiting Kentucky and had blown up. It’s an odd dimension so I haven’t discovered a correct body. And it retains falling from the wall I blue-taped it to.
Is {that a} signal? That we’re not meant to be in possession of…something? Is it the spirit of my great-grandmother telling me I’ve all of it incorrect, that the outdated nation retailer had nothing to do along with her life?
These are only a few issues that got here to thoughts as I learn Kim Danielson’s Piece by Piece: A Life Remembered by Issues Misplaced (SWP; February 2026). 4 years in the past, in January 2022, Kim Danielson’s Colorado house was burglarized. They rampaged into the house she shares along with her husband and three boys, went proper for the secure of their main bed room, emptied out dresser drawers, culling by nightgowns and underwear, leaving with a handful of treasured keepsakes and heirlooms. It’s a harrowing loss, igniting reminiscences and outdated grief, whereas additionally creating a brand new kind of grief, that of getting one’s house damaged into.
Piece by Piece appears to be like at not simply issues, however the psychological and emotional the reason why it hurts a lot to lose them. However Danielson goes a step farther. She creates a long-lasting legacy in scripting this guide that not solely gives her solace within the aftermath of such a loss, however a tangible and lasting reminder of her tenacity, reminiscences, and enduring spirit.
Please be part of me in dialog with Kim Danielson.
Leslie Lindsay: Kim, thanks for chatting with me about Piece by Piece. I all the time like to begin with the origin of a guide, as a result of after we get down the ‘why’ of a protracted undertaking like this, we’re reminded of our intentions. My sense is you felt bereft after dropping not simply these household heirlooms, however having your property, your non-public sanctuary, invaded. What higher means than turning to the web page to resolve these emotions. Am I heading in the right direction, or was it one thing else?
Kim Danielson: Sure, completely. Not solely did I lose these items of significant worth, however I additionally felt unsafe in my own residence. It felt like a violation upon violation. Moreover, I struggled with the heaviness of this loss. I used to be devastated by it in a means that appeared disproportionate. I misplaced issues, and I saved reminding myself of that. “It’s simply stuff,” everybody mentioned and I agreed, and I saved making an attempt to give attention to the truth that everybody I beloved was unhurt. However regardless of how laborious I attempted, I couldn’t discover solace there. It wasn’t till I began writing that I noticed why this loss harm a lot. Writing the tales gave me peace.
LL: Piece by Piece is informed in such a novel construction and I really like that. Construction is hard! However you deal with it superbly. I don’t suppose I’m spoiling something once I say that every chapter relies on the story behind the piece of jewellery that was stolen. Every merchandise conjures totally different that means, symbolism, a distinct interval in your life—from childhood to legislation faculty, marriage, infants, and extra. Was this your plan, all alongside, to undergo the artifacts one after the other? What have been a few of your earlier drafts like?
Kim Danielson: The unique draft of this guide was a numbered record of stolen objects—an inventory requested by the police for his or her investigation. After months of looking and hitting so many lifeless ends, I noticed I wanted to seek out one other method to transfer ahead. I went into my workplace, grabbed that record, and began writing the tales behind each bit. In that sense, the construction was inbuilt from the beginning.
Later, I added the alternate timeline, which follows the day of the housebreaking because it unfolded in actual time. I just like the distinction between the one-day timeline and the one-life timeline. I really like taking part in with construction, and I feel that’s what makes Piece by Piece distinctive and distinctive.
LL: In writing, there may be quite a lot of grief. Killed darlings. Crumpled pages. A deal that falls by. And that’s simply the tip of the iceberg. I really like this quote that you simply share in Piece by Piece by Brene Brown, “grief is the lack of expectation.’ And that’s so true! There’s the narrative we imagined and the one that truly occurs, and it’s usually difficult to reconcile the 2. Are you able to converse extra about that, please? When it comes to writing and generally?
KD: Oh sure, I actually suppose Brené Brown nailed it. After we expertise loss, we lose not solely the article of that loss—a beloved one or a treasured factor—but additionally the longer term story we envisioned. For instance, once I had youngsters, I anticipated my mother to observe them develop up, to be concerned of their lives in the identical methods my grandmothers have been concerned in mine. When she died, I misplaced not solely her, however the story I had imagined and anticipated. That’s why grief makes us really feel so untethered; we’ve misplaced our strong floor and our clear path.
I feel the identical is true of writing. We expertise grief in our work, too. I naively anticipated writing a guide could be a straight and direct path, and it actually wasn’t. I didn’t count on it to be simple, however I by no means anticipated the quantity of rejection and self-doubt alongside the way in which. Ultimately, I needed to let go of my expectations and be taught to carry every little thing extra loosely.
LL: I also can utterly relate the way you regarded in every single place for among the misplaced objects—pawnshops and consignment shops, the way you learn the information with obsessive regularity. We’re all the time on the lookout for methods to make the unsensible smart. I feel what I’m getting at is what we’re searching for is our nostril. I’m curious if that’s the way you felt with the guide?
KD: Sure—this actually resonates with me. I began writing after I ended looking, however I feel you’re proper that I used to be looking the entire time. I desperately wished to make sense of what had occurred, and it wasn’t till far alongside within the writing course of that I noticed the understanding I used to be on the lookout for had been proper in entrance of me all alongside. I assumed the return of the issues was the top aim, however what I used to be actually searching for had been there all alongside—I simply couldn’t see it but.
LL: I completely love the way you write about artifacts commemorating occasions, locations, or individuals, that they’re greater than their ‘face worth’ of stones and steel. In some methods, the lack of these things made them extra tangible. You have been in a position to share the tales behind them, one thing chances are you’ll not have finished had this horrific housebreaking occurred. In that sense, it’s nearly a present. Are you able to converse into that, please?
KD: That’s precisely it. I didn’t recognize these items almost as a lot as once I had them, as a result of I by no means had cause to take a seat down and take into consideration their intrinsic worth. It wasn’t till I misplaced them and needed to come to phrases with why the loss harm the way in which it did, that I found their true worth. Had the housebreaking not occurred, I might by no means have finished this deep reflection or unlocked so many elderly reminiscences. I additionally would by no means have had the conversations with family and friends members that answered questions I might by no means have thought to ask. This type of excavation would by no means have occurred.
In some ways, this loss was a present, as a result of it gave me the chance to research my very own historical past and inform tales that in any other case would have died with me. I misplaced many treasured heirlooms, however I gained an heirloom that may by no means be stolen.
LL: Do you will have any ideas or concepts on how others can protect these reminiscences of household heirlooms? Issues we’d do to make sure not simply the merchandise, however the reminiscence and symbolism get handed down?
Kim Danielson: Sure! Begin with one beloved piece, a household souvenir or priceless memento—the sort of factor you’d seize if your own home was on fireplace. Sit down and write about that piece, together with the who, when, the place, how, and why of it. What or who does it remind you of? What reminiscences are related to it? How did you come into possession of it? What that means does it maintain for you? And do you will have any unanswered questions on this piece, and in that case, who would possibly be capable to reply them?
Begin with one piece after which transfer on to a different, till you’ve captured tales that mirror a spectrum of your life.
And eventually, be sure to kind them and save them someplace secure—past a single system—so the tales don’t disappear. You realize, simply in case.
LL: Kim, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Is there something you want to add that maybe I forgot to ask?
KD: Thanks for these considerate questions. I’m so grateful for this chance to speak with you and for the care and a focus you dropped at this guide. My hope is that Piece by Piece will probably be useful for readers and function a sensible template for writing their very own legacies.
Within the years I spent writing, enhancing, and pursuing publication, there have been numerous information tales of devastating loss—fires, hurricanes, floods, landslides, theft, and the heartbreaking destruction attributable to wars world wide. So many individuals misplaced treasured and irreplaceable belongings. I supply this guide as a method of reclamation and restoration, a method to protect what issues, with or with out the objects.
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