Puttermesser in Paradise

"Very deep is the well of the past.  Should we not call  it bottomless?" 

    We used to subscribe to a number of magazines. My favorite was probably The Atlantic Monthly. I still read a lot then, and here was a wonderful mix of news, opinion, poetry, and fiction. 

   I'm attempting to de-clutter, downsize, whatever you want to call it. Today I located a stack of old magazines in the bottom of a bookcase. Included in the pile was the May 1997 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, and I think the reason I stopped my subscription. The magazine contains a short story by Cynthia Ozick, one of the most unsettling pieces of literature I'd ever read till then and ever after. I remember stuffing the magazine into the lowest level of the bookcase, out of fear that I might read, or even think of it, again. 

  I know that poor old Mrs. Puttermesser encountered some demonic happenings on her way to Paradise. I forget what was so intrinsically terrifying, but I had wished I'd never seen the magazine. 

 Now the story  in my hands again, and I'm tempted to reread it. But I also know that  the tragic tale of what   happened to Mrs. Puttermesser 25 years ago is going to seem more vivid at my present stage of life. 

 To shred or not to shred: 

that is the dilemma.