L<br >Lessons， Flowers，<br > I d only been practicing for about fifteen minutes in the vacant lot<br >across the street frora my grandmother s Fresno， California， house when<br >she called me to help her hang clothes on the backyard line. I was<br >warmed up， and， with a big track meet the next day， I resented her<br >intrusion on my twenty-four-hour countdown preparations. But she in-<br >sisted that I come in "right now!"<br > My grandmother never spent a day of her life in a classroom. Her<br > parents were illiterate ex-slaves who never owned even a single book.<br > She was self-taught and just barely literate. She studied the Bible inces-<br > santly. And her handwriting took some getting used to; it could not be<br > read， it had to be deciphered.<br > She always spoke in the key of life. Stories and sayings were her<br > prime means of communication. She often laid out entire scenarios， citing<br > all the dates， naming all the people and places， and reiterating precisely<br > who said and did what to whom when and where. At other times， it<br > seemed she could capture the essence of a lifetime in a single sentence.<br > She was always talking about something that had happened in nine-<br > teen aught something or other， about when she worked for white folks in<br > Russellville， Arkansas， about when Grandpapa supported nine children by<br > working on the railroad for thirty-five cents a day in Mississippi， and how<br > he d had to threaten the white folks to get his pay. I loved to listen to<br > her talk.<br > ，/ But this day， my mind was on an upcoming track meet-my first as a<br > called away from<br > collegiate discus thrower-and I was ang~ about being<br >"I Lessons， Fl<br >my final physical an<br >all things.<br > I did everything<br >banter. So， while I c<br >day， I do remember r<br > She dropped a t~<br >paused a moment， p<br >finger squarely betw，<br >piece of knowledge I<br > "Boy， there s at<br >enough to master it.<br >least searchin for th<br >searchin by itself<br >cain t spell a word."<br > Nothing more w<br >started for the bac~<br >sunflower plants thai<br >against each other.<br > As I watched so<br >ahead of us， I turnec<br >of her own sayings.<br > "If there s at le~<br >there on the ground<br > She never hesita<br >flower-no matter h~<br >last forever. That s x~<br > Despite her lack<br >those life experience<br >there is concealed kl<br >profound sort; that j<br >ity there frequently<br >that inevitably camo<br >subtle yet critical cc<br >a profound appreci~<br >that ultimately time<br >our biological， cultu<br >tivated， and nurture~<br >rive from life. She r<br >nourish and sustain<br ><br >