The days were once so long. It was difficult to know how quickly the years would pass. Grandmother s faces in her own. Memories of these women who made her are there too in her baskets. Only now, here at sorting time, she is their age.
Death is no barrier to that.
But not now. At 50 she is eligible for membership in the midlife tribe of women. In the morning light, she looks at a face only slightly familiar, searching for her 35 year old face which she feels from the inside. There are many mysteries in this sorting room but Regret is not among them. For those who are initiated well By life, have no interest in going through youthful initiations again.