turn the pages

It is startling, even horrifying, to turn the pages of an archival folder in a beautiful Yale research library and come across such incendiary and racist language on official Supreme Court letterhead and dated during one’s own lifetime.

Steve, who is approaching 80, and his sister Judith Hansen, 81, watch their father turn the pages of yet another calendar and find themselves reflecting on their own longevity, quality of life, and the costs of growing old.

As it turns out, Cicero was right: I had all that I needed, including the only thumb required, which was the one I used to turn the pages in books and the trowel in my soil.

Steve, who is approaching 80, and his sister Judith Hansen, 81, watch their father turn the pages of yet another calendar and find themselves reflecting on their own longevity, quality of life, and the costs of growing old.

If you turn the pages hoping for answers, you won’t find them.