“I remember when . . .”

When I was a child, my grandmother began each story with these words. Her stories about the past taught me lessons for my own life. Now, as an adult, I often meditate on my grandmother’s tales, not because of sentimental nostalgia but because memory is a bridge that allows me to gather strength and wisdom from those who lived before me. In doing this, I engage in sankofa, the African tradition that means “return to your past in order to move forward.”