Thank you, Mother, for teaching me to talk to animals: cows, pheasants, deer, and stray dogs. Thank you for inspiring me to cook with my imagination instead of a recipe. Thank you for teaching me that work can be play, and working hard all day growing uselessly beautiful flowers is worth the labor. Thank you for teaching me their names. The first time I heard "forget-me-nots" and "snow-drops," I couldn't believe we humans were allowed to invent such names! I learned that words could flower. Thank you for teaching me that the Oxford Book of English Verse is as sacred as the Book of Common Prayer, though that too is a lovely poem. Thank you for noticing the beauty of the rhododendron and the mockingbird: for teaching me that this anonymous sacrament of wonder might be the most important work we do all day. Thank you, Nana. We love you forever.
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