A more personal look into SdB, strength even in vulnerability. Her observations, both internal and external, clearly laid out as she recounts her last days with her dying mother.

“Religion could do no more for my mother than the hope of posthumous success could do for me. Whether you think of it as heavenly or as earthly, if you love life immortality is no consolation for death.”

“She got rid of the ready-made notions that hid her sincere and lovable side. It was then that I get the warmth of an affection that had often been distorted by jealousy and that she expressed so badly. In her papers I have found touching evidence of it. She had put aside two letters, the one written by a Jesuit and the other by a friend; they both assured her that one day I should come back to God.”

Didn’t expect to start the year reading about death, but by doing so found some degree of comfort.