Back Then



1 Cameron entered the kitchen where his mom was standing
by the stove on which a large, silver pot gave off steam and the
soft, bubbling sound of a rolling boil. He asked her a question
that had been burning on his mind for some time—namely, why
it was that Grandma always talked about the past.
2 “Well, your grandma has a lot of years and many memorable
experiences,” Mom said. “Most of her past she remembers with
great fondness.”
3 “But what about the present—I mean, don’t you think we
should live for today and not always be traveling back to the
past?” he asked.
4 “Remembering your past does not mean you live in it,” Mom
said.
5 Cameron replied that he guessed that was probably true but
added that when he got old, he would not talk so much about
when he was young. He then asked what Mom was making for
dinner.
6 “Chicken and dumplings,” she said. “When I was a girl, my
mom used to make it every Saturday night. I used to love how the
whole house smelled, and I always looked forward to those
steaming bowls. And when it was winter, she would light a candle
right in the middle of the table, making this warm atmosphere
when the wind was howling outside.” Cameron shook his head and
left as Mom laughed.
7 The next day Cameron was sitting in the living room floor
with Jodi, his four-year-old sister. She was telling him that she
wanted to go see the movie Dogs and Cats, but Mom said no.
8 Cameron always thought she looked cute, and now he knew
it was true even when she was pouting. He smiled and told her
that she would be okay. He told her that when he was four, he
wanted to go see the big machines at the construction site, but
Mom wouldn’t let him. “I was mad for a week,” he said. “But I’ve
gotten to see many big machines since then, and this one

machine I saw downtown when I was six was SO big that it was
taller than the buildings there.”
9 “Uh uh,” Jodi said.
10 “Yes,” Cameron confirmed it. “And today, I don’t miss having
not seen the construction site.”

In “Back Then,” how does Cameron change by the end of the story?

A.
He talks about when he was young.

B.
He shows affection for his sister.

C.
He wants to encourage someone else.

D.
He acquires an interest in machines and construction.