Thelma and Katrina walked to the top of the hill and back each morning, regardless of foul weather. Some days, Thelma walked more slowly than others, some days she relied more heavily on her cane for balance than on other days. But she rarely missed that morning walk. As they walked the dirt path that wound up the hill, Thelma would share stories of her life, and usually add a thought-provoking insight or two, something Katrina started to think of as coming across a blooming flower in the midst of a cornfield. “No one grows old by living, only by losing interest in living,” or “Keep the past in the past.” She couldn’t imagine Thelma Beiler ever being hearty and young the way, of course, she once had. The thought made her very sad. When she died, all this valuable knowledge would be lost. In the mornings, Katrina worked in the vegetable garden, or cleaned house for Thelma, and also helped Andy out when he brought sacks of moss from the hillside down to the greenhouse.
