--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Can you keep a secret, Sarah?\" she asked…" description: "\"“Can you keep a secret, Sarah?\" she asked. I nodded, remembering all our secrets shared together in her mother's house, and she said, her breath hot in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/kathleen-kent-20053_parenting_can-you-keep-a-secret-sarah-she-asked-i_1280791.jpg" --- # Can you keep a secret, Sarah?" she asked. I nodded… ![“Can you keep a secret, Sarah?" she asked. I nodded, remembering all our secrets shared together in her mother's house, and she said, her breath hot in my ear, "You cannot harvest the corn until you go into the corn." I awoke with tears on my face, my hands clutching at the ribs around my heart. I…” quote by Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/kathleen-kent-20053_parenting_can-you-keep-a-secret-sarah-she-asked-i_1280791.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/kathleen-kent-20053_parenting_can-you-keep-a-secret-sarah-she-asked-i_1280791.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/kathleen-kent-20053_parenting_can-you-keep-a-secret-sarah-she-asked-i_1280791.jpg) > ““Can you keep a secret, Sarah?" she asked. I nodded, remembering all our secrets shared together in her mother's house, and she said, her breath hot in my ear, "You cannot harvest the corn until you go into the corn." I awoke with tears on my face, my hands clutching at the ribs around my heart. I had for more than forty years kept the past behind an impenetrable wall of my own devising. I thought that to move beyond this wall and revisit the past would scorch my reason and make me mad. But then, as I lay sweating in bed, restless and prickly, it came to me that to harvest a field of corn one does not wade into the dark middle of things and cut the stalks from the inside out. It is best done starting with the outside ears and working inward, stalk by stalk, keeping the light of the sun always at one's back so that its rays can illuminate each ear of corn, be it whole and sweet or black and blighted. And in this way does one make a meal that feeds a starving body back to wholeness. (183)”” [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage uses a corn‑harvesting metaphor to describe confronting past trauma gradually, starting with peripheral memories and moving inward, allowing light and insight to guide healing. **In simple terms:** Heal past wounds by facing them step by step, keeping perspective. Key Takeaway Approach trauma gently, let light guide each memory. Themes healing self‑reflection growth Mood reflective hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - journaling - support groups - mindfulness practice - grief counseling Key Concepts psychology metaphor gradual exposure Questions to Reflect On - What peripheral memory can you explore safely? - How does keeping perspective help you process trauma? A Different Perspective Healing may be slow and painful; confronting deep pain can destabilize emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“And here it would seem from some ambiguity in her terms that she was censuring both sexes equally, as if she belonged to neither;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-here-it-would-seem-from-some-ambiguity-in-her-terms-that-she-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I really, really see you. I see everything we've been through. And all the secrets I shared with you. Just like I see you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie/i-really-really-see-you-i-see-everything-we-ve-been-through-and-all/) [Leslie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie/) > [“We were not a foursome. For that, we’d need to be bonded by secrets, and I shared none of mine. 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We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/women-know-things-that-men-will-never-know-we-keep-the-best-secrets/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) ## More by Kathleen Kent > [“If I do not do this thing, then it may go on and on. Nothing of the greater good comes without struggle and sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/if-i-do-not-do-this-thing-then-it-may-go-on-and-on-nothing-of-the/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“Dr. Tom had said that Texas was the only place he had ever found that, when it killed you, it didn't forget about you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/dr-tom-had-said-that-texas-was-the-only-place-he-had-ever-found-that/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“This history has for so long lived like a spider in my breast. 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And so it went as we followed Father, who had come to take us forever away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/i-took-a-step-and-then-another-and-so-it-went-as-we-followed-father/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“He said that some people can live from birth to death and have no more thoughts in their heads about the reasons for living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/he-said-that-some-people-can-live-from-birth-to-death-and-have-no/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“You ask me what makes a woman comely?" He tapped one finger lightly against her temple and said, "Thoughts, missus. It's thoughts that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/you-ask-me-what-makes-a-woman-comely-he-tapped-one-finger-lightly/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“A scarecrow was a thing of bold-faced tactics, out in the full light of day. 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