September 27, 2005

Dear Companions,

I call you this because each one of you is always with me.

Now that I have finally come to know you, it worries me that if I do not write about you, you will again fade away into oblivion…although I don’t know why I call it oblivion because before I knew each one of you, you each lived so fully in my consciousness.

I struggle now to write your stories, so that I can better know you myself. For I find in the writing so much more comes to light than in the mere recital of facts.

 I write your stories down so that I can pass them on to others, especially my grandchildren and their children.

I want my grandchildren to know of their rich past and the women who came before them.

It has been good for me to learn your stories, good for me to spend time with each of you. Good to spend time with the past and what has been forgotten, a time for reflection and the regrouping of strengths.

That is what I wish for my grandchildren, quiet time to know themselves really well. Who they are and where they came from. In giving them these stories, I will also be giving them a sense of themselves, allowing them to think quietly about who they are. Giving them a sense of their own possibilities.