Is ea, is cuimhin liom go maith e.

The first part of this story takes place in the distant future: June 1972. Assuming that the main character of the story is Jonathan (as the title of this book is sometimes called Jonathan’s Cross), we first meet him as an old man, bedridden due to a stroke that left the right side of his body paralyzed. He feels like he is a burden to his son, despite what his old friend Maura says. Maura is close to Jonathan, and has been a part of his life for so long that she knows everything about him. He appreciates the little scoldings and quips that come from Maura, and even though he pretends like it annoys him, it is something that he looks forward to. Judging Maura on her actions, we can assume that she either used to work as a maid, or still does. Her first instinct is to clean up the room around Jonathan, even if he doesn’t want her to. As she goes through the room, dusting different pieces of furniture and keepsakes, she silently remembers the story behind each piece, showing the reader that her place in this family goes deeper than just keeping the house clean.

Jonathan’s son, Robert, brings his father a few items that he had requested, most notably an old typewriter and dozens of journals that documented Jonathan’s life. It is then that Jonathan asks Maura to finish his story, write anything and everything that happened to him in his life and give it to his children when he does. Even though she hesitates in the beginning, she eventually agrees, having free reign of where to start this epic tale.

Judging from the prologue, I get a sense that there was something incredible that happened to Jonathan, something that Maura had the opportunity of witnessing first hand. It must be something important enough to make him want to leave it to his children in writing, rather than just telling them the story. His son Robert is already grown, as Jonathan is living in his son’s house rather than his own, although it is not said how old Robert actually is. We also don’t know how many children Jonathan has as of right now, or what happened to the mother of his children. All in all, I feel like the prologue is a great start to what I hope to be a very interesting story of Jonathan’s past, something that shaped his future and made him decide it was worth immortalizing.

-Leelynn