English106-01-03 Introductory Composition

When Terry's mother died, that was her first tangible glimpse of death. She hadn't truly experienced the power and emotion that comes with losing a close family member. Once Terry's mother died, she became a veteran of death so to speak, no longer possessing her innocence. When she writes how losing Mimi will mean "burying her haven," Terry lets on to the fact that when her mother died, Mimi became her haven to help recover from her mother's death. Mimi was the closest thing to a mother figure she had and after that was gone she had nothing left to fill that void. Terry is clearly feeling forgotten and dejected at this moment in her life. She has lost the two closest people in her life in a short amount of time without ample time for recovery.

Without her innocence and soon to be without her safe haven from the cruel world we live in, Terry needs a new haven; a refuge she has had all along. She no longer has the comfort of her mother or grandmother, and there is only one place left for her to turn. All through the book she has sought refuge in the serenity of nature, and the Great Salt Lake. She describes it as her "basin of tears," and her "refuge" (280). This is because through the entire book there has been one constant, and that is the joy she finds in being on the lake. As she paddles through its calm waters she writes "There is no place on earth I would rather be. Our red canoe becomes a piece of driftwood in the current" (279). Many people have a place where they are at peace. For many people it is a nature spot where they quietly observe the magnificence of the Earth. For others it is a building or some other man-made structure where they find serenity in human accomplishment. My mother is the exact same. She goes to Arizona at least once a year to hike different trails of the Grand Canyon. She always comes back with her eyes alight and long stories about rattle snakes or caves. For her there is no greater joy than spending a week in a giant pit. She will find any excuse to bring her hobby up in conversation with whomever she pleases. My mother has found a refuge in her own life to get away from everything that is thrown at her. She has found the place where time stops and your worries disappear.

A refuge is something that everyone seeks. It is often a means of survival. For people like Terry, they would never survive without their refuge to comfort them. It is a way to escape from the bustle of everyday life and leave everything behind. Whether it is a peaceful lake, a vast and wild canyon, or any other hobby, a refuge is something everyone seeks and many people would never live without.