He would grow up knowing his grandmother.

He would grow up with at least one adult in his life whose love came with stability instead of conditions, and honesty instead of pageantry, and genuine values instead of gold-lettered signs.

Whatever else I had torn down that morning, I had done it to build him a clearing where he could grow in the light.

People do not always understand that a thing can be torn down and built in the same motion, but any gardener knows it, and any mother should.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for something young and growing is to cut down what is shading it out.