“Uncover the Mysteries of Nature: A Journey through Lynne Golodner’s ‘Forest Walk on a Friday'”
After a long immersion into the world of Orthodox Judaism, Golodner divorced herself—both from her Orthodox husband and community—and returned to the lifestyle of her less structured, secular childhood. Golodner found new love with Dan, the man she soon married and who accepts her completely. She also came back to a ritual she had deeply missed: eating oysters with her dad.
Golodner’s dad is present in many of these pages, although he has passed in real life. In “Swimming: A Meditation,” we learn of his incurable blood cancer and the process, for Golodner, of living through the two years of his dying. Golodner’s father had always been the person she’d turn to for reassurance and advice. It is the pool and her bodily exertion that catalyze a dramatic realization: “Swimming infuses me with strength, clarity and determination like my conversations with Dad. I no longer need to hear his words to know that everything will be all right. In the absence of his voice, I listen my own.”
