“Thirty years ago, my sister, Gale (so named because a gale hit Boston Harbor the night she was born), some friends and I stole a boat in the middle of the night and sailed it out of the Santa Barbara harbor. Suddenly we were becalmed and the current began pushing us toward the breakwall. With no running lights and no power, we were dead in the water. Out of that darkness a steel hull appeared: it was the local Coast Guard cutter. My father, stern-faced and displeased, stood in the bow.” YearsLightRunningNightFatherWaterBornDarknessMiddleYears AgoCurrentsLocalsBoatThirtyPushingMy SisterBowsSteelCoastBostonSantaHarborsThirty YearsMiddle Of The NightGaleBarbaraCuttersHullSanta BarbaraCoast Guard Book:A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck By Lightning Source: A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck By Lightning
“Widowhood provided Mama with a higher form of being. In refusing to recover from my father's death she had discovered that her life was endowed with a seriousness her years in the kitchen had denied her. She remained devoted to this seriousness for thirty years. She never tired of it, never grew bored or restless in its company, found new ways to keep alive the interest it deserved and had so undeniably earned.” WayYearsFormFoundFatherInterestCompanyAliveGrewHigherTiredBoredThirtyKitchenDeniedDevotedNew WaysRestlessSeriousnessMamaThirty YearsWidowhood Author:Vivian Gornick
“My mother married my father in 1956. She was twenty-eight, and he was thirty-one. She loved him with a fierce steadiness borne of loyalty, determination, and an unyielding dignity.” MotherFatherMarriedDeterminationDignityTwentiesEightLoyaltyThirtyFierceUnyieldingSteadiness Author:Jill Lepore
“My parents were early converts to Christianity in my part of Nigeria. They were not just converts; my father was an evangelist, a religious teacher. He and my mother traveled for thirty-five years to different parts of Igboland, spreading the gospel.” YearsDifferentMotherFatherParentReligiousChristianityFiveTeacherThirtyFive YearsTraveledNigeriaEvangelists Author:Chinua Achebe