It was she who first introduced me to a book by Richard Morris Bucke called Cosmic Consciousness. While reading it I realized for the first time that other people, too, had contact with the Golden World. It gave me the first bit of a handhold on what had happened to me. Lessons were at Miss Rand's home in the late afternoon, and I often stayed for dinner. We would go on talking until 9 P.M., when her dog would courteously insist that it was time for me to go home. In my own home I was accustomed to retiring to my room immediately after dinner, as there was never anything of interest to say to anyone. Although I didn't know it at the time, I had a great hunger to be parented by someone who understood my inner world. During this period I didn't know what I wanted or needed, I only felt a great hole in my life. In