Dear Kindred Spirits,
In this final section of reading, we get thorough depictions of the different parts of the trail that Zinny uncovers, from the ghosts of Spook Valley to the run-in with the bear in Bear Alley. Perhaps each of these places symbolize a stage of grief. As she nears the end, she finally has a sighting of Aunt Jessie, as she had been hoping for this whole time!
I am currently also reading a book called “The Grieving Body”, which explores the physiological and psychological changes that occur with grief. Psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor writes about the stages of grief stating “there is not a single stage of protest and then an angle stage of despair, and then acceptance. People cycle again and again through this process of protesting the loss and then feeling the despair over the loss one’s absence. It takes a very long time to learn that our one-and-only is truly gone, and we must relearn it with every new season, every new milestone.”
This cycling of grief experiences seems to be exactly what we are witnessing Zinny go through, along with Uncle Nate on his endless search for his Redbird.
Zinny trespasses into a cabin along the way, and inside she finds Aunt Jessie’s coat! On Zinny’s next return home, she steals the horse belonging to her friend Sal Hiddle (our main character of Walk Two Moons) and while the rest of her family is at the circus, she brings Uncle Nate back with her to the trail. When they are together she remembers the origin of the medallion, that she is in fact the one who buried it years ago, shortly after Rose died. Together they go to the cabin, and on the way are joined by Jake. The cabin is filled with all the memories of Rose and now Aunt Jessie, including photos, belongings, and letters written to Rose from her parents after her death. Zinny is flooded with memories and emotions.
In this discovery it becomes clear that Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate could not bear to have reminders of their Rose nearby at home, but they couldn’t let it go either, so in straddling the two, this cabin became a mausoleum to Rose.
“It seemed a shame that Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate spent so much time chasing the dead. And yet, I could see how they were trying so hard to keep the dead alive, to defy that darkness sweeping in and overtaking them”.
Through the completion of her trail, the remembering of the medallion, and the discovery of the cabin, Zinny faces her own grief in a new way. She realizes that while of course she is actively grieving Aunt Jessie, she has also been grieving- and feeling guilt - over the death of her cousin Rose. The story ends with Zinny completing her trail, which she names Redbird Trail, getting the attention of the local media and community who now frolics the trail as fellow explorers.
What did you think of this depiction of grief? And for readers who have been joining for each month, did you have any thoughts about the ways in which grief shows up differently in each of these novels?
Thank you for joining along with me this month, as this was one of my favorite books as a child. I approached it so differently this time around, and I am grateful to have read it alongside all you Kindred Spirits!
Thank you for reading
Thank you for reading and joining me on this read-along of Chasing Redbird!
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Your bosom friend,
Bri