My grandmother raised me and my little brother and sister. She herself grew up as the oldest of seven children. Her parents worked very hard to put dinner on the table and she often played the “mother” role. She grew up to be a hard worker like her mother and is a believer in and an implementer of chores. I distinctly remember the first time my grandma left me the dreaded chore list.
But without love Granny’s radically human hurt was never healed.”(Unre, 108) At the age of forty, Granny Weatherall suffered of a second life changing jilting when her husband John died. After her husband’s death Granny Weatherall was left to be both mother and father to her five children. Even though she was left alone to raise her children she believed she had done a good job, and good enough for John to one day
Jenna’s mother and her get into arguments over Jenna asking her mother to watch her son. Jenna has to pay for daycare after school for him while she is at work and has little money to pay for additional daycare when she would be at college classes. Her mother says that she has raised her children and does not believe that she should have to help her daughter because she received no help with her children. Jenna has a 17 year old sister who does help with watching her son, but Jenna also feels guilty always having to ask her and has no money to pay her to watch her son. Jenna and her sister are close, her sister plans on attending college at the end of her senior year and wants to study to become a doctor.
Matt now has a son, a good wife, and an ordinary life; he still has a good family life without going to university. In contrast with Kate, although she has good education and job, she doesn’t have her own family and in fact, she says, “I had never thought I would really love anyone.” (89) From another perspective, she seems to be the one that is going to have a sad life. Similar with Luke, when he rejects Sally it is due to his responsibility as a caregiver. He is happy with his decision since it is for his family. If Matt chooses to go to university instead and leaves Marie, he will most likely lose his happiness and truly be an emotionless “nerd” and suffers like Kate who does not truly knows the meaning of love.
This has placed Viola in the upper middle class of society, where she no longer has to worry about finances, has both of her children in private schools, and has even purchased a home for her mother. At one point, she questioned whether she was deserving of such fortune, because she just didn't think she worthy (personal communication, May 6, 2009). Nonetheless, she and her husband are grateful for their status in society and do not take any of their "blessings" for granted. Our family friend Renee is a 49 year old biracial woman, who's mother is White and father is African American. She was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and has pretty much lived there all of her life.
Despite all of the struggles that she faces, Precious is incredibly resilient and strong. Precious’ first child, Mongo, lives with her maternal great-grandmother, Shelia. Mongo has Down’s syndrome and has developmental delays because of it. Mary (Precious’ mother) does not work, nor does she want to. She receives food stamps and other forms of aid through manipulating the welfare system by saying that Mongo lives in the apartment with she and Precious, when in reality, Mongo lives with her great grandmother.
I was unable to describe to Mary that her father will no longer into the room and pick her up or even tell her stories at bedtime. I also urged her brother, Edward Jr. to not try to mention it to her, but support and take care of her as best as he can. Mary was growing up and meanwhile this whole time I was telling her stories of her father and everything that happened between him and me inclusive the part with Bertha and how she burned the house down. Edward Jr. looks a younger version of his father, finally happy and married to a wonderful wife who is expecting her first son within this year. Mary enjoys going out with her friends to parties and even brings my cousin’s daughters with her.
I loved her immensely and went against my mother’s disapproval of the marriage. Eleanor was hard to get along with because she was socially awkward and did not talk very much. She was the light of my life, however, and I loved her. Eleanor’s parents had passed when she was ten, and her uncle, Theodore Roosevelt, stood up for her deceased father in our wedding. We had six children in all.
My older sister and I both lived with our mother. Since she was the lone parental figure, we always listened to what she said without argument. “Never date a Middle Eastern man,” my mother told us. My mother was sexist in a way that she did not think women needed to have a husband, much less a Middle Eastern one. As I grew older, I began to question why my mother would give such bizarre advice.
She had been receiving letters from her ex-husband saying "How are you and the boys? Bet they’re getting big," (1, Medicine River). The clear absence of the father has caused Rose to become independent and have to raise her children by herself, as well as support her kids with no financial aid from a husband, an uncommon front for a woman in a time where men dominated. In addition to the independence and self-reliance of Bertha and Rose, Louise, a female who lives in Medicine River with Will, possesses these same characteristics. She has found a way to succeed at a job in a time when it occurs very seldomly for women.