Book. Memory. Promise: Never Forget

In Tree. Table. Book., Lois Lowry uses stories as a connection that sparks and sustains the friendship of two Sophies: one eleven and one eighty-eight.  They are neighbors and kindred spirits.  As the elderly Sophie begins to lose her memory, the simple mention of commonplace objects gives her the impetus to tell her young friend stories from her childhood that have lain dormant for decades.

While reading this poignant middle-grade novel, I kept thinking about my mother-in-law, Anne, and the connection and friendship we had built on a foundation of literature and memory.  Anne died a year ago this past January.  I’ve thought of her every day with every book I open, every child I help to read, and every time I sit down and indulge myself with a slice of cheesecake.  Anne loved cheesecake, bagels, and Kosher hot dogs – anything that reminded her of her childhood on the Upper West Side of New York, living with her mom, Ruth, and her grandparents while her dad, Sam, was serving as a medic in World War II.  Anne’s grandfather, Alexander, had been a successful insurance salesman, but after he suffered a heart attack, he devoted his time to religious studies. Anne told me stories of how her grandfather read to her and encouraged her to be a thinker and scholar.  He would have been so proud of her.  She graduated from high school and enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of fifteen.  Anne loved history and literature, and after raising her two sons, she became a university reference librarian.

When we met, I was nervous that she would not like me, an Italian Catholic nursery school teacher. I thought we would have nothing in common.  But from day one, we connected, and she adored me, and I loved her for seeing my strengths instead of my weaknesses.  Both my in-laws made me feel special and cherished. I cannot tell you much I appreciated their unconditional love.  They didn’t have to love me, but they did.  Even when my own parents did not, they stuck by me.  I will never forget that.  I have been buoyed by Anne’s love and care many times over the forty years I knew her.  In her later years, after my father-in-law died and she went to live in a nursing home, I tried my best to be her friend, to listen, to console, and to comfort.  Anne would get anxious, worried that the Holocaust would occur again. I would reassure her, thinking that she was just being silly.  Nothing that horrible could happen again.  But I was so wrong.  Anne wasn’t being silly.  She realized the danger signs: rising antisemitism, violent protests, and prejudice, which I thought would never happen again.  The world would not allow it.  Surely, we had all evolved.  But sadly, Anne was right; her worries were and are very real.

I am encouraged and so thankful that Lois Lowry has written Tree. Table. Book.  The octogenarian author of Number the Stars and The Giver, Ms. Lowry is an expert storyteller and isn’t afraid to take on controversial subjects.  She is a master at presenting hard situations and ethical problems to a young audience.  This most recent book spans generations and shows how stories can connect people rather than tear them apart.  With story and memory, we can build bonds and begin to understand each other.  This connection between the old and young is crucial; it is the sticky hope that will ensure “never forget” leads to the promise of “never again.”