How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #4
Granddaddy Opal said he would get me a bicycle and then I could join him on his route. It wouldn't be a new bicycle, though. He said it would be an old beat-up one picked up at a yard sale. He was good at fixing bicycles. "You fix it up, paint it, and then it's yours," he said. "You take care of it, grease it up good every now and then, give it a name, and you ride it everywhere. You and that bicycle become best friends. It's a real special relationship." (6.7)
Granddaddy Opal's object lesson with the bicycle is one of the few moments in Miracle's childhood where she's treated like an adult and given responsibility. Having her own bike to take care of makes her feel important and helps her forge a connection with Granddaddy Opal, something she seriously lacks in her relationships with other family members.
Quote #5
I could feel contentment riding on that breeze, flowing from one to the other of us. It was the first time we had all sat together in the same place. It was the first time Gigi and Granddaddy Opal were quiet, but this didn't last; the winds of change kept shifting. (7.9)
It's interesting how once things settle down a little at Granddaddy Opal's, Miracle catches glimpses of what a normal life could look like for her. When she and her grandparents are quiet and together, she actually feels something approaching happiness. Unfortunately, though, it never lasts.
Quote #6
"I could tell Dane loved his Daddy," [Aunt Casey] said […] "Said he got his artistic talents from him, not from Gigi, like Gigi's always implying." (8.12-13)
Is it just us, or do Gigi and Granddaddy Opal have a kind of sick rivalry over their son? Gigi's obsessed with him being a writing prodigy, while Granddaddy Opal is the one who likely taught him what he knows about creativity and art. Our guess is that Opal really was the source of Dane's gifts—and Gigi knows it.