A Personal History
For Whitney's treatment plan, she has to write a personal history—and in a way Just Listen feels like Annabel's personal history of the past year. She gives a detailed account of all the things that happen to her following a traumatic event, and eventually gets to the point where she can address what happened—both to the reader, and to Owen and her family. When she details telling her family about what happened, it feels like a very cathartic moment in a personal history:
Telling my family had been harder, in the end, than telling Owen. But I did it. Even through the hard parts, even when I heard my mother catch her breath, could feel my father's eyes narrowing, felt Kristen shaking beside me, I kept on. And when I felt myself really wavering, I looked at Whitney, who never flinched. (19.2)
Annabel tells her story with the understanding that these are important moments that should be preserved. Even if they are hard are painful, they are a part of her story—and that means they matter.