Summary of Epilogue
James tells the story of meeting a fellow reporter, David Preston, at the Wilmington News Journal. They became friends and only gradually discover they have similar mothers. David’s Jewish mother survived the Holocaust, and he decided to write her life story after he heard about Ruth’s. David was at James’s wedding, and James attended David’s. David wanted Ruth to come to his Jewish wedding, and she agrees. James wears a yarmulke and gets the taste of a Jewish ceremony, and because David’s own mother had died, he wanted Ruth to be there. Ruth enjoys the wedding, but she is only a guest in the Jewish world now. She remarks on seeing the wedding, that this could have been her life.
Commentary on Epilogue
For Ruth this is one of those glimpses of a “road not taken.” She sees a wedding that could have been her own but cannot imagine having traveled that road. She and James truly understand that despite the struggles, their lives turned out as they should have, and as they have wished. Ruth knows she did not make a mistake.
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