The Memory Tree

by Linda Gillard

thereafter to have nothing in my home which I did not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

After the storm has passed, some lie fallen – though some of the fallen live yet. We endure.

Life would be deadly dull if we all shared the same enthusiasms, the same passions. How should we ever learn anything new?

suppose if we live in a world where grown men throw bricks at intelligent, articulate women, anything is possible.

So I know what it feels like to think you don’t measure up, how tough it can be to go your own way without any support or even encouragement.’

The Allies didn’t win because we occupied the moral high ground, we won because the Germans lost.’

You can acknowledge bravery and self-sacrifice, but still see war as a terrible waste of lives and resources.

The war was like a plague, except it didn’t carry off the weak and elderly. Those it left behind. This plague took the young and the strong, those who would be missed most.

‘Every child should be welcomed into the world, whatever its provenance. A new life is a very precious thing, especially these days.’

grief appears to be a reservoir that never empties. Memory refills it constantly. I

Would a man without memory be a happy man, I wonder? If we did not always look back, could we move forward, unhindered by a crippling sense of loss?

‘What people don’t realise is that even if you’re cured, it’s still a life sentence. A life sentence of fear and in some cases, a life sentence of after effects.’