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Show 13 that part of mindless nature that claws downward at the creative and human in us. Women-amused at the imaginative and wayward male yet willing to aid him, inconstant themselves in all but their constant, tender, fierce concern for their eternal mission Nell and Rose had a power beyond beauty, and I could not pay either the tribute she merited. That night I was full of shame, impatience, a general feeling of uselessness. But only a few days passed before I began dimly to appreciate Mother and the wonder of her bearing me. And I came to value the unwavering strength of the support she gave Father. Surely by then she must have seen how Nada was dying before the gods of death that ruled the desert. I came to appreciate too how Father had devoted his life to preserving life, all his long years as medical student and physician. I thought of how he had delivered me and countless other babies, and how he was giving his last decades in a brave effort to bring life out of the desert. |