for my parents, Don and Mary James

At first Matthew suggested getting a “Home” boy. But I said “no” flat to that. “They may be all right—I’m not saying they’re not—but no London street arabs for me,” I said. “Give me a native born at least. There’ll be a risk, no matter who we get. But I’ll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.”

—Marilla Cuthbert
Anne of Green Gables (1908)