Books 32 & 33 for the year

32. Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and their food, at sea and ashore, in the nineteenth century - Sandra L. Oliver A fascinating look back at the kitchens and galleys of early New England and a selection of recipes to enjoy, as well.

33. Military Brats: legacies of childhood inside the fortress - Mary Edwards Wertsch A million thanks to Mary Edwards Wertsch for writing this book. The story of my childhood - but who knew it was the story of so many others as well??

From the final page of the book, "...'Home' for a rooted civilian is a place to return to so that love and values and memories and a sense of continuity can be replenished. What I found is that we military brats have a home like that too, a home that we all share, that lives in each of us, that we can visit in one another.

"...The sharing of stories, I learned, is what roots are all about. Subtract the sharing, and what do you have? Only a bit of dry knowledge fit to be filed in a dusty folder somewhere. Real roots are about connection - the bonding with others who share a similar lived experience - and the recognition that who we are individually is due in large part to that lived experience."

It would be very hard to explain the emotional impact of this book to anyone who did not grow up as a military brat, and impossible to overstate its relevance to one who did!