By now you’ve probably heard that Courtney Love intends to auction off the effects of her late husband Kurt Cobain. In a recent interview she described her house as “a mausoleum” and says she still wears Cobain’s pajamas to bed. “How am I ever going to go form another relationship in my lifetime wearing Kurt’s pajamas?” she asks.

It’s natural to view such comments with skepticism. For one, she’s had her share of well-publicized romances over the last dozen years or so; she apparently wades through the detritus of a couple of them on her upcoming album. If she’s implying that holding on to Cobain’s memory has impeded her romantically, well, that might be true. But she’s also publicly voiced her antipathy toward being remembered mainly as his widow, and given her aggressive personality and history of substance abuse, it’s reasonable to assume there’s no shortage of reasons for the dissolution of those past relationships.

As healthy as such skepticism is, though, I think we should cut her a break. Accusations that she’s just cashing in on her husband’s legacy are pretty much pointless: She’s already sold off some of her share of the rights to Nirvana’s catalog, which she’s perfectly entitled to do as the beneficiary of his estate. The same applies here. Legally, his effects are hers to dispose of as she sees fit. Besides, it’s long overdue. Who wants to live like Miss Haversham, surrounded by the bitter remnants of a tragic past? If it helps her to close some doors and move on, who’s to say that might not have a positive effect in terms of preventing future self-destructive acts?

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