SUMMARY:
Christopher and Susy decided to get married, but the did not have a wedding. In Montana, you did not need witnesses just a judge to say you were married and that's all. The two of them got a dog named Ruby that they had to train with professional help. Their friends joked they were practicing for parenthood. But Christopher did not want children. When the two of them found out they were pregnant, they spent 3 days deciding whether to keep the baby or end the pregnancy. They decided on the abortion, but even when they did decide, they still had to wait until she was 7 weeks so the clinic could go along with the procedure. Susy voiced her opinion, she wanted the baby, she wanted to be a mom but Christopher just wasn't ready yet. After the abortion, she felt terrible. She didn't want to get out of the bed or eat, all she wanted to do was sleep. Five months later while on their way to visit Christopher's parents, he was finally ready to be a dad. Susy was ecstatic. She was completely happy until she realized that if he would have decided that the 3 days they waited in making the decision or in the 10 days they needed to wait for her to reach 7 weeks, they would have had a baby in 2 months time. Getting over that grieve led her to becoming a counselor at the rival clinic she got her abortion at. She felt it to be the right thing to do she had the abortion to be a better parent n the future and that's what she plans on telling her children when they ask.
Susy and Christopher had gotten pregnant soon after he decided he wanted to become a father. Her and her mother were both in New York and Susy got showered with present for the baby by her mom who wanted to give Susy and the new baby everything. She was in labor 57 hours before she delivered a baby boy they named Daniel. They called everybody, Daphne being first, to tell them about their exciting news. But they called Christopher's mom to help with the newborn saying they needed "help that helped". Daphne did not get to see the baby until he was 6 weeks old but she always sent him cards for every special day n his life. When he was 18 months old, Daphne came with her husband and lied her way into getting pain killers for herself the second she got off the plane. She didn't speak to her mom about the situation but rather wrote a letter but never heard back from her. The two of them had another boy named Jack and she tried to be the best parent to the two boys that she could.
In the final chapter Susy says she saved ever letter her mother has ever written her to try to make sense of the reasoning behind the things her mother did to her over the years. She called Paul to ask if he and her mother really had sex on her bed the first day of high school for Susy and he said no. She called Martin and asked if he really had sex with Daphne that night when he was suppose to be visiting her at college. She believed them two, saying they felt at home in their stories. Susy remembered back to a time when she was 15 and she went to Greece on a school trip and her mother drove 70 miles to get feta cheese for Susy so she could make the salad Susy said she loved so much. She remembered a time when she was 9 and sick in her mom's bed when she saw somebody out in their living room. Daphne came to investigate and came back to tell Sue to get back in the tub and wait until he was gone. She said she let him do whatever he wanted so that he would not go after Sue and not hurt her. She remembered a time when she was 8 and she got her first room with her younger sister. She did what she wanted until her mom came in and told her to go to bed. One night when Daphne went out and came home late, she went to say goodnight to Sue and had a seizure on top of her. She remember a time when she was 3 in Provincetown when after a bath Daphne wrapped her in a towel and carried her to warmth. Something she does with her sons now, stating "It's a single moment in parenting in which I'm certain I am doing right," (Sonnenberg, 267). For two weeks after her mom's accident she kept telling herself she was going to be okay and that Daphne won't die, which she didn't, after surgeries she made a long and sad recovery. Penelope stayed by her the whole time. Susy and Penelope did not talk for a whole year after their mother's recovery. Finally after a year of not speaking she went to New York and explained why she did not go and to see her father because she just enjoyed his company. It ended with susy explaining that when she gets back to Missoula she will be greeted by her dog, husband and two sons and wake up laughing.
QUOTE:
"New York streets weren't home to me anymore," (Sonnenberg, 271).
REACTION:
This quote shows how Susy is now at home and peaceful with the decisions she's made in her life because it led her to where she is now. Now she has a wonderful husband, two loving sons and experiences that make her an author of work that people will be interested in reading. Susy told Penny she made a mistake in not going to her mom in her time of need but at the same time, I would not hold this against Susy for any reason at all. SHe never told us how Penny was as an adult, but when the two of them where younger Susy did everything for her and Penny needed this experience to help her grow a little as a person. This book was very detailed and it allowed me to go throw the emotions that Susanna was feeling at the moment the event happened.
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