I was getting along fine with with Mama, Papa-Daddy and UncleRondo until my sister Stella-Rondo just separated from her husbandand came back home again. Mr. Whitaker! Of course I went with Mr.Whitaker first, when he first appeared here in China Grove, taking”Pose Yourself” photos, and Stella-Rondo broke us up. Told him Iwas one-sided. Bigger on one side than the other, which is adeliberate, calculated falsehood: I’m the same. Stella-Rondo isexactly twelve months to the day younger than I am and for thatreason she’s spoiled . . .

What stories she could weave! What’s printed above is theopening paragraph of Eudora Welty’s short story, “Why I Live at theP.O.”

Mississippi, the nation and the world lost one of the greateststorytellers ever Monday with the passing of Miss Welty at age 92.A Pulitzer Prize winner at age 64 for her book “The Optimist’sDaughter,” she was also an accomplished photographer. Accolades arepouring in for this extraordinary woman, and they are certainlydeserved.

Miss Welty will be laid to rest Thursday in her beloved hometownof Jackson. Mama, Papa-Daddy, Uncle Rondo and Stella-Rondo will bewith us forever. If you don’t know how their story ends, get a copyof “A Curtain of Green” and find out.

Read. That would be a great way to honor Miss Welty.