enter literary
enter visualWe All Become Stories
WE ALL BECOME STORIES, conversations about aging and memory, by Ann Elizabeth Carson “In words as clear as polished crystal and a voice both brave and often humorous, Carson invites us to see ourselves in the past, present and future through the words and hearts of [twelve] elders whose moving stories will inspire you and leave you wiser for having read them.” Gianna Patriarca, author of Italian Women and Other Tragedies, Daughters For Sale, Ciao Baby, What My Arms Can Carry, Too Much Love.
Martha: Now I understand why I did certain things, I can accept more.”
Whenever I reach Monhegan Island I watch for her as the Laura B. out of Port Clyde, Maine nears the dock at low tide. Short, slight, dressed usually in red and blue, with salt-and-pepper hair moistly curling in the early morning mist under her round-brimmed white hat, she smiles broadly as we draw closer. Conversation on shore and aboard the boat stops in anticipation of landing, and I hear her soft, southern drawl: “I thought this day would never come.” Up the steep gangplank, I am finally ashore. And then we hug, lightly. It has been a while, but lightly is enough for old bones.
