--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Later, you told me what your mother had…" description: "\"“Later, you told me what your mother had said. How your father, the farmer, rose up slowly. You told me how your mother wailed on the other end of the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/jon-gresham-100218_belonging_later-you-told-me-what-your-mother-had-s_1622386.jpg" --- # Later, you told me what your mother had said. How your… ![“Later, you told me what your mother had said. How your father, the farmer, rose up slowly. You told me how your mother wailed on the other end of the phone, grieving her loss and complaining about the basketball of a goitre perched on her shoulder. She told you, your father walked onto the veranda…” quote by Jon Gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/jon-gresham-100218_belonging_later-you-told-me-what-your-mother-had-s_1622386.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/jon-gresham-100218_belonging_later-you-told-me-what-your-mother-had-s_1622386.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/990/jon-gresham-100218_belonging_later-you-told-me-what-your-mother-had-s_1622386.jpg) > ““Later, you told me what your mother had said. How your father, the farmer, rose up slowly. You told me how your mother wailed on the other end of the phone, grieving her loss and complaining about the basketball of a goitre perched on her shoulder. She told you, your father walked onto the veranda and saw a chook floating ten feet above the ground. The chook didn’t flap a feather and just sat there brooding, swaying in the breeze.”” [Jon Gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gresham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal recount of family grief and bizarre visions, blending loss with strange imagery. **In simple terms:** Grief mixes with strange, floating images. Key Takeaway Find meaning amid surreal loss. Themes grief surrealism family Mood dreamy poetic Type Belonging:0 Booksactually:0 Company:0 Desires:0 Father:1 Grief:1 Hope:0 Ireadbooksactually:0 Jon-gresham:0 Literature:0 Longings:0 Loss:1 Mother:1 Parenting:0 Parents:0 Prose:0 Rising:0 Sglitftw:0 Short stories:0 Singapore-literature:0 Support:0 Vulnerability:0 Told Mother:0 Mother Said:0 Told Father:0 Said Father:0 Father Walked:0 When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - storytelling Key Concepts symbolic imagery psychological processing Questions to Reflect On - How does surrealism help process grief? - What does the floating bird symbolize? A Different Perspective Abstract symbols may obscure raw emotion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belonging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belonging/) [Booksactually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/booksactually-22733/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Father Walked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-walked-290333/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Ireadbooksactually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ireadbooksactually-94308/) [Jon-gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jon-gresham-97824/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Longings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longings/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-said-285827/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Rising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rising/) [Said Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-father-290332/) [Sglitftw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sglitftw-168367/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [Singapore-literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singapore-literature-170853/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Told Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-father-290331/) [Told Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-mother-234664/) [Vulnerability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulnerability/) ## Related quotes > [“She tried to remember all the times she had spoken to him. 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That when we meet after the worst of endings, There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-wong/if-this-turns-to-friendship-it-only-means-that-one-of-us-will-suffer/) [Cyril Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-wong/) > [“You yearn to stay in this in-between place, where the beauty of the times you have freshly bade farewell to is still alive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-chew/you-yearn-to-stay-in-this-in-between-place-where-the-beauty-of-the/) [Agnes Chew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-chew/) > [“We weren’t happy together but we lived in a state of easy, mild contentment. We shared everything except the stupid fucking secret hanging round…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gresham/we-weren-t-happy-together-but-we-lived-in-a-state-of-easy-mild/) [Jon Gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gresham/) > [“I am a wall. I am a wall. I am a wall. I am a giant and I tower above you. 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My mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/my-father-when-walked-into-a-room-you-could-tell-that-everybody-loved/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [My father walked to school 4 o'clock every morning with no shoes on, uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow and he was thankful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/my-father-walked-to-school-4-o-clock-every-morning-with-no-shoes-on/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [My father walked out on us when I was three months old, and my mum, well, she wasn't the driven sort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy/my-father-walked-out-on-us-when-i-was-three-months-old-and-my-mum/) [Lemmy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy/) ## More by Jon Gresham > [“We weren’t happy together but we lived in a state of easy, mild contentment. We shared everything except the stupid fucking secret hanging round…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gresham/we-weren-t-happy-together-but-we-lived-in-a-state-of-easy-mild/) [Jon Gresham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gresham/) [Explore all 2 Jon Gresham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gresham/) ## More Belonging quotes > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [I always think the best way of motivating yourself is to put yourself in a situation where you feel like you're belonging to something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-jackson/i-always-think-the-best-way-of-motivating-yourself-is-to-put-yourself/) [Colin Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-jackson/) > [It is a well-settled principle of the international code that where one nation owes another a liquidated debt which it refuses or neglects to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/it-is-a-well-settled-principle-of-the-international-code-that-where/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) > [The region belonging to the pure intellect is straitened: the imagination labours to extend its territories, to give it room. 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If our behavior follows our kind and loving nature, immense benefits will result,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/i-am-convinced-that-human-nature-is-basically-affectionate-and-good/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“The reason “belonging” was so potent, so attractive, so much a part of the human yearning, was that it also meant safety, and loyalty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-penny/the-reason-belonging-was-so-potent-so-attractive-so-much-a-part-of/) [Louise Penny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-penny/) > [If some student belonging to weaker section of society suffers distress, humanity says it must be addressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arun-jaitley/if-some-student-belonging-to-weaker-section-of-society-suffers/) [Arun Jaitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arun-jaitley/) > [Connection gives purpose and meaning to our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/connection-gives-purpose-and-meaning-to-our-lives/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [My father was a man of great charity towards the poor, and compassion for the sick, and also for servants; so much so, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-father-was-a-man-of-great-charity-towards-the-poor-and-compassion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Maybe the problem with the world is, that people are too quick to judge. 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