Amelia and I have begun a discipline. I write something about our ancestral search. She reads my offering and makes a response. My words are often stories or research. Hers are poems. Hers change how I see the world.

With one generation and nearly 40 years difference in perspective between us, our words – even when on the same topic – frolic against one another.

The image above is what remains of the front cover of the Bible my great-grandma Lisa gave to my mother. When I was nine, my mother passed it on to me. It is full of stories. When I opened it at random this evening, I read the words “Many are called but few are chosen” (“What does that mean?” I thought) and then the words “wither thou goest, I will go.”

Where are we going? What will our words open for others?

The first of my entries is called “Velho and Christian Too”; the response from Mia (Amelia) is “Bottled Potions.”