My grandmother and I shared two passions: reading and storytelling. She told hers; I write mine. When she first asked me to tell her a story, I said, "I don't know any stories." She cupped my chin in her hands and replied, "If you know people, you know stories."

People – that was her first love, and although she had little, she cheerfully gave of what she did have: her gardens. From her flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, she fed Jesus's lambs in their journeys down sorrow-filled paths and their celebrations in times of rejoicing.