Twelve years earlier, Mama took me to the bank of the stream that ran by our house. “My goodness, this young woman cannot be little Hannchen,” Aunt Charlotte said as I stepped onto the platform. Inside, Aunt Charlotte showed me to an impressive suite of rooms down the corridor from their own. Aunt Charlotte was childless, after all, and perhaps had always longed for a daughter to dress and fuss over. As I placed them away, I knew my own clothes would look grungy in comparison to all the lovely things Aunt Charlotte had procured.

Source: The Nation August 13, 2023 09:50 UTC