My father made me work hard, and the one thing I wanted for myself—a sprig of rosemary—would not be pulled out of the ground. The harder I pulled, the more the plant resisted, but I was not about to be beaten. I tore it out of the ground, and then a lot of things happened.

Did they happen for better or for worse? I’ve thought long and hard about that, over the years….

Woman Who Wanted Something For Herself in The Sprig of Rosemary, Pink Fairy Book. Painting by Rembrandt.