Some Trees

Summary

• The chapter opens with Tova, a meticulous woman reorganizing her attic, reminiscing about her late husband Will and his habit of hoarding and piling things, which now have to be sorted and disposed of.
• The house is filled with memorabilia and her son Erik's toys, her mother's porcelain tea set and countless other objects from their past.
• Tova categorizes the items into trash, donation, and things to carry to her new home at the Charter Village retirement home, which she is doing with the help of friends and neighbors.
• One of the items that make it to the keep pile are wooden Dala Horses from her past, representing a deep link to her Scandinavian heritage.
• While going through the objects, she is reminded intensely of her deceased son Erik and contemplates on the bitterness of not having grandkids and passing down the family heirlooms.
• She is reminded of a girl Erik was involved with before he died whom she had never met or heard about from her son’s end.
• She then heads to the local grocery store where she runs into Sandy who was her son's schoolmate.
• Sandy reveals that she knows that girl Tova was thinking about and reveals her name as Daphne, which leaves Tova stunned and spiralling back to memories of her deceased son. She returns home, determined to learn more about Daphne.
• Tova unsuccessfully tries to locate 'Daphne A. Cassmore' in Erik's high school yearbook, allowing her to finally exhale the breath she had held in anticipation.