But When My Mother Died,

I'm Not Much Like My Mother; That Role Falls To My Brothers, Who Have More Of Her Blithe And Freewheeling Spirit.

A Mother Is Beyond Any Notion Of A Beginning. That's What Makes Her A Mother.

We Have An Idea - A Very Modern Idea - That Dying Is Undignified. But I Think This Is Because We Have The Illusion That We Can Control Our Bodies And Our Fates.

If The Condition Of Grief Is Nearly Universal, Its Transactions Are Exquisitely Personal.

My Whole Life, I Had Been Taught To Read And Study, To Seek Understanding In Knowledge Of History, Of Cultures.