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A storm can terrify, or it can set you free. Lightning, thunder, and a summer rain can offer comfort and inclusion when one is unwelcome indoors. We learn that belonging can be built from safe spaces, safe creatures, and the ebb and flow of Mother Nature.

Sadie shows how punishment became a system and how survival asked for cunning: Grandma held the line—she would not lie, but neither would she betray. Plates of food appeared at night, and by morning they were gone. It was a kind of care that shielded a child within the narrow space allowed.

We talk about what denial can do to a family’s memory. We suggest that children deserve trust long after adults revise the record. If you’ve ever found safety in a place instead of a person or been saved by one steady ally, this story will find you.

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Special Thanks to our supporters, who have made this podcast possible.

• Lucy Mathews Heegaard: Audio Engineer
  • with music via Epidemic Sound
• Terry Gydesen: Photographer

• Polly Kellogg
• Kate Tillotson
• Dawn Charbonneau
• Jacob Wyatt
• Molly Tillotson
• Julian Bowers
• Wendy Horowitz
• Pat Farrell
• Lynette Tabert
• Laura Jensen
• People's Farm Collective
• Deborah Copperud of "Spock Talk" podcast