Signs that Your Mother Was a Hoarder

Cigarette butts and the ash of Salem Lights in never-emptied glass ashtrays.  Crumpled take-out paper bags from Wendy’s piled next to the couch.  Mold growing on the pink rubber mat in the bathtub.  Cardigans, size M, in heather, taupe, and buttery yellow with mother-of-pearl buttons heaped on the dresser.  A letter dated 1967 from a…