In 1991 Hunt's cousin uncovered (by accident) that their grandmother was still alive. (b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) - Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. It's not literature, but it is honest, energetic, and profoundly evocative of the deep, deep psychological imprint of the question of color in the South. Repossessing Ernestine reads at times like a cross between a confessional article in a woman's magazine and a detective novel. And Hunt, who recovers and brings to light so much family history, is someone we are glad to come to know, a kind of Everywoman. While much of what Hunt uncovers could only be seen as a tragedy, the conclusion does offer a faint note of triumph: Ernestine gains a family of sorts. Hunt's research takes her all the way back to the antebellum South and up to the life and tragic death of her father, Ernestine's son, a Harvard- educated psychiatrist. Ernestine was a blond, blue-eyed black woman born to a dark mother who was ambivalent about her daughter's appearance. Was Ernestine, who has been institutionalized since the 1920s, ever really insane? Or did she just suffer from a combination of postpartum depression and her husband's wish to get her out of the way? Hunt stresses the role of color in this story. A host of disturbing questions about Ernestine's history, and Hunt's family, unfold. Ernestine is living in a small private nursing home in substandard conditions, her upkeep paid for by her dead husband's mistress. Hunt flies from her home in France to meet Ernestine, a tiny woman over 90, usually silent, withdrawn, perhaps unreachable. She discovers that her family's deepest secret is an ``insane,'' long-institutionalized woman, Hunt's grandmother, still alive in a nursing home in Memphis. Hunt, a novelist (Free, 1992, Joy, 1991) and actress (Hair), and, it must be noted in obeisance to the rules of American celebrity worship, the mother of Mick Jagger's first child, is an intelligent, responsible writer. Brown and Reverend Rose for this opportunity to share “Treasures in the Darkness and Hidden Riches in Secret Places.A troubling account of the search for roots in the racially and psychologically complex American South. All are welcome to join us by dialing 60 and then code 395806#. I will be a guest speaker for Tabernacle Baptist Church at “The Table Family Prayer Group at 12:00 on Tuesday May 30th. What treasures could we ever find in the darkness, or hidden riches in secret places? Oh, there are so many.Hope, Peace, Love, Kindness, Deliverance, Strength.not in ourselves, but in that miraculous Light that leads us through the darkest of nights. Though we often cannot understand it, somehow, we regain our depth perception and our peripheral vision, as the light shows us a bigger picture. And then said, “the light shines in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not." I have always found comfort in that light that shines in my darkness. He found that Light in the Word as he declared, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” And John found it and said, “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. David found that light also and was able to slay the impenetrable bear, the mighty lion, and the overbearing giant. I have found many treasures in my times of darkness, and many hidden riches in the secret places, once I found the light to show me the way. It is then that we need to find clarity find the “treasures of the darkness”, the “hidden riches of secret places.” It is then that we must find the light in our darkness so that we may see clearly again. It is unfortunate, that often we, in ourselves, can lose our depth perception, when surrounded by darkness, or situations in our lives that are clouded by circumstances beyond our control. The squirrel fails many times because he lacks depth perception and the ability to detect the immediate danger due that his eyes are positioned on the side of his head. Have you ever noticed in our lives that we face many decisions in our lives the same way as the squirrel? We don't like to think that we do, and would rather perceive ourselves as the courageous lion who is unapproachable, or as the mighty eagle who soars above the clouds and troubles that crowd into our lives. Wherein, you then perceive danger, react frantically and hunch up and freeze also. Have you ever noticed a squirrel in the middle of the road? They perceive danger, react frantically, race back and fourth before they hunch up, and freeze right before you as you are traveling fifty miles an hour.
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