First his parents and grandparents when they lived on the homestead in the mountains, then Ellie and Clayton, and later Cally—all of them made Leland Howard the person he was. Rather, the person he had once been. In the wake of the loss of his entire family in a matter of days, nothing could have persuaded Leland to continue participating in his daily life, so the accident in the courtyard that led to his brief coma and subsequent hospitalization proved to be a blessing. The injury, coupled with his unremitting depression, provided a reason no one could question for him to slip out of reality and never return. It proved less of a blessing that his mind remained sharp and his memories kept trying to claw their way back into the light of day. He kept them caged by focusing only on his daily activities—making the little boxes from wood supplied by his dear friend, Richard Price; bantering with the staff at Forest Glen; and occasionally sharing some of his carefully selected memories such as he had done with Tate Marlowe recently.
