I believe my mother tried to contain her sadness by withdrawing and growing root-bound. When a plant outgrows its container and isn’t repotted into a larger one its roots grow round and round, halting growth. Just so, my mother got her children to the brink of adulthood, then her roots began to grow round and round, tighter and tighter. But mortals cannot decide how much pain is enough. So Atlas, god of endurance, punished her. Her pain grew until it bulged out of her.
