Summary

The final chapter, 2011: The Garden of Remembrance, opens with Hannah talking about the letter. She says she has had the letter for a long time. She recounts its history, including that it traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in a Vickers Vimy almost 100 years ago. She describes the envelope, including that there are some water spots but no seal or “insignia.”

Hannah, now 72, admits that she has spent most of her life without a true goal and without a definite purpose. She worked as a nurse, a farmer, a cosmetic salesperson, and raised dogs. None of it has filled the longing she has to hold her son, Thomas. Hannah is in financial trouble. She has been receiving threats from the bank regarding her financial situation. She vows to Thomas's memory that she won't let the bank take the property.

She spends a...