The Very Hairs on My Head Are Numbered

Abstract

There is no writer who could possibly have had a bigger impact on me than my mother, Rev. Alice Fleming Townley. It was through a series of eulogies Mom gave this summer, I realized the central theme of my essays: love. Mom’s eulogies for Albert Able, Wally Bennet, and my grandpa, outlined the caring church communities in which the three were raised and how each were called to return that care to those around them. In my essays, I seek to position myself in the framework of my mother’s eulogies as a young adult, someone who has been raised in loving community but who is only just starting my journey into how that upbringing will guide me through life. Both essays in this project demonstrate what I was taught about love growing up. They highlight some of the spaces I felt most at home, and they ask questions about where I will make a home in the future. “There is a Balm” explores the church and the structured way I was taught to express care there. “A Recipe to Remember” highlights the power of storytelling to pass a sense of belonging between generations. While the essays tell my story, this preface tells the story of the texts which challenged, inspired, and guided me to think about how love works in the world. This preface and this project are my story, “…my giving of thanks.”