(cont'd: The Little Way of Ruthie Leming)
Author Rod Dreher contrasted his life with that of his sister Ruthie and saw, from the position of adulthood, things of value that he didn't notice as an awkward teenager. Her friends, teaching colleagues, children she'd taught, all came to honor her life when she died. News spread, and there was food, a cleaned house, her daughter's car fixed, all there when the family came home drained from the hospital.
He had to take note that Ruthie's family had a "deep bench" of meaningful connections. In their big city life, his own family had friends but not deep roots.
That's where stories like this usually end. Roots are better, the rebellious boy comes back home. But it's not the end of this story.
Some of that discontentedness he felt as a boy was due to genuine failures among the hometown people, including Ruthie, and he doesn't flinch from telling that part of the story.
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