The vision of the poor garden wouldn't go away. One day a thought flitted through my head: I'd be a whole lot happier with a handsome rose garden and maybe it would lift my spirits and make me forget this dreadful year.

The decision to escape his wrath came as a self-realization of my situation. I began to envision consequences and options through the blurred haze of my weakened sight. Although I didn't have the option of changing him, I had the option of changing myself.

Life may not be the same as it was at the turn of the twentieth century, but we can still learn lessons from an era gone by. When life seems complicated and confusing, when I think that love is just a fantasy, I reflect on the summers I spent with my great grandparents when I was a little girl. I take my cue from a man and woman who lived off the land and each other's love for more than fifty years: Live simply, live happily.