"Central was a slowness allowing for the consideration of every choice. The state of the spirit, it is believed, reveals itself in small tasks, rituals - all the things that war interrupts. Old traditions that represent values, daily habits that calm the mind, are not perpetuated when war stops time. Life goes unattended. What might have been lasting is lost" (Page 6).

"No one has suffered the curse of drifting off alone. Together is the way these people, my people have lived since coming to the United States. Together is the way they will die. Community is everything; home is everything. If you have lost your own" (Page 12).

"When I was younger, I had pictured myself as the sort who plants trees that endure. I wanted to be a family man, a generous man, but there was always work, and like my great-grandfather Isber, I had to make my...