“I know that now.”

I helped her settle, then sat beside her for a while as the evening light faded beyond the window.

She told me a story about a teacher who had once believed she would never finish school, and how my grandfather had quietly found a way to pay for the books she needed.

Marian remembered the exact color of the books and the feel of the brown paper wrappers.

“You come from stubborn people,” she said with a small smile.