“We’re so grateful,” she says again, and then, “to your mother for the Gift and to you for the Granting. The world is out of step, you know, and the Granting will put it back in order.” Somewhere in Irene’s memory, a glitter of words gleaned from the website printout: The process of the Granting ensures that the intended object is offered over or, as it might be, exchanged. We must free ourselves from such binding tenets as “shame” when it comes to an act of salvation.
