How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Line)
Quote #7
"You don't need to worry about what happened before. All you need to look at is what's happening now." He nudged my chin up so I would look at him. "And be happy about it. And if it means you only get to be happy for a month or two months or three months, so what. A month or two months or three months is a good long time." (9.15)
Frannie's daddy doesn't let his daughter mope around and feel bad; instead he lets her know that she's being ridiculous in letting her life be ruled by fear. She should embrace the good things instead of fearing the bad all the time.
Quote #8
My grandmother always says that good things come in ones and twos and threes and bad things come however they can get here. I tried to close my eyes and picture the place where all the tiredness was coming from, the place where the baby was growing and wearing Mama out. I wanted to lift the tiredness up out of Mama with my thinking. (9.22)
You can tell Frannie's a good daughter—not because she does the dishes, or makes her bed without being asked, but because she really deeply cares about her mama. She wants her to feel better and she'll do anything to make that happen.
Quote #9
And staring at the picture of Lila, hanging on the wall with her eyes all dark and wide, it dawned on me—I wasn't afraid of dying because dying had always been somewhere in our house, somewhere so close, we could feel the wind of it on our cheeks. (12.22)
Frannie's afraid of a lot—like societal changes, and her mama being unwell, and giving up her place in the family—but she's not all that scared of death. She's been aware of it since she was a little kid, as morbid as that sounds.