This is so real. What she is saying. I know first hand what it is like to be forced into something and it is not a good feeling. I like what she said about just showing respect instead, it really is that simple. The honesty in how she talks is very real. I appreciate real. Being is real about things like this is important to learning how things were.

I used to go clam digging with my extended grandparents and I loved it. It was a little hard at times to get the clams because they would be so far into the sand but it was rewarding when you got some. I loved steamed and smoked clams, so good. I did not know about how they would preserve the clams back then because they did not have freezers. That is cool to know. We would put them in a little steamer basket and put in on a rack over the fire.

My aunt makes her own 'fruit leather" she calls it just like this in the summer. All the berries she uses are from her garden. Nothing beats the little crunch from the seeds of the raspberries. I love it. We also would make our own jelly to, the best. I like how Elsie describes her love for real "fruit roll ups" nothing is quite like it honestly.

Grief comes in so many shapes and forms. There is no right way to grieve. Throughout my grieving process, I have had many people question and or judge the way I am going through this. So when I read this, I teared up because it slightly validated me that doing what is right for me through this is not wrong. I really love how honest and down to earth she is by talking about grief. Grief is a very difficult thing to understand. No one should apologize for putting themselves first when grieving.

As someone who is going through grief right now because I lost my brother, reading and hearing how she talks about grief is actually really inspiring. Using the analogy "You are in this fork in your life. You're either going to go left or you're gonna go right." "It's always easier to go left. Because you don't have to make any decisions." Spoke to me and is actually opening my mind to taking better care of myself through this time. I have 100% been going left and I never really thought of it that way till I read this. I really like that she touches on so many real life things and in a way not many people do because it's based around the teachings in her life and culture.

I really love hearing about how music would bring them together. Music was a huge thing in our family to bring everyone together so that warmed my heart. I like how she describes what she remembers and which instruments they played. It felt real when I listened to her voice light up when she talked about this ceremony.