NOVEMBER 27
In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.
—ALICE WALKERAt a time of loss, our heritage—that succession of genes and
circumstance that brought us into being—assumes even
greater importance in our minds. Or maybe it’s that
everything that’s important becomes more important with
the intensity of feeling that loss brings on.
We may cherish anew our forebears, savoring who they
were and what they have passed on to us, not only physical
characteristics like eye color and body shape, but things like
a gift for math, a love of gardening, or even favorite foods.
Growing up, I felt an immeasurably strengthened bond with
my grandmother when my mother said, “You’re like my
mother. Pears were her favorite fruit, too.” The fact that I
bore her name added to that bond. These things made me
feel like her close companion, though she died when I was
two. So we strengthen our ties of love and take comfort from
the networks of history of which we and our loved ones are
a part.
I rejoice in the rich fabric of family and friends which holds me
safe, and grateful, at a time like this.