A picture of strength: life stories of four grandmothers

This creative nonfiction thesis explores how four grandmothers, those of the author and of the author's husband, define strength. The thesis uses information gleaned through interviews with the four women to tell their life stories. The conclusion examines how these stories have been shaped by factors such as race, class, gender, age, and religious beliefs. The author finds that the women demonstrate strength both through life choices they have made and through the repetition of certain stones which define strength for each individual woman.