The analogy of pebbles was given to me by Brigid when she stayed with us the weekend after James’s death. In a moment of self-pity, I blurted out—“Am I not the worst mother in the world?”—to which Brigid replied that we both knew the answer to that question, and we also knew the question was not a real question, only, a pebble of a question. Better kick the pebble out of your way instead of letting it stop you, she said. If one is destined to live as a Sisyphus in an abyss, there is good sense in distinguishing a meaningful boulder from insignificant pebbles. A Sisyphus making a boulder out of
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