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This memoir is a collection of vignettes that mark the author’s life through stories of his ancestors, childhood, education, career, and travels assisting the poor. Filled with anecdotes from seminal events in his life, Belenky mines the past and unearths wisdom and insight from a life lived helping people. There is a beautiful urgency to his personal story as he looks back on how his experiences have given him a view of the world worth sharing. These reflections on his family, work, and travels include details of his Russian Jewish ancestors, his work with young people, and his outreach to struggling families in Haiti and Russia. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Belenky ran an innovative outreach program for students in a forest in Vermont and sought to help children improve their lives through his unique methods. Notably, his experiences in the field, while informally recalled in this memoir, offer insight gained from a lifetime of committed work in his career and his travels.
Each entry is heartfelt and reflective with an aim toward remembrance. The past blooms large and vibrant on the pages of this memoir. With compelling stories and intriguing encounters, Belenky is committed to sharing the details of his life piece by piece. Woven together, the tales reveal a remarkable life of outreach and human connection. At times, the book reads like a personal journal and is loosely organized into chapters that connect the brief stories under bigger topics. There is value in looking back at a long life filled with people, places, experiences, and events—some big, some small, but all worthy of inspection. Belenky holds his memories up to the light for a closer look to see what might be revealed and invites readers to look alongside him for wonder and wisdom.