The first time I began to consider truly the weighty significance of the notion of ancestry and the personal history of all who've come before us occurred when I analyzed the William Cullen Bryant poem "Thanatopsis" to prepare to teach it. Now not a day goes by that I don't wonder when I walk the streets of Austin whose feet trod exactly the same path centuries ago. I love Bryant's image of all of those who have lived forming a hand-in-hand chain than transcends time and place. When I leave this life, a welcoming hand will be extended to me. In turn, I will do the same for someone else.
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