How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Maybe he will, maybe he won't, she said. It would be one great day if he did. But I don't kid myself. I'm not his mother anymore. I was for nine months and a day, but that's all. His m other's the one who raised him. Best I could be is someone like a caring friend who might happen to look a little like him. (20.115)
Because Carolyn gave her son up for adoption, she knows she can't expect anything from him. She doesn't deserve to be treated like his "real" mother; she hasn't been there to see him grow up, after all.
Quote #8
But sometimes, Violet said, I just wish I could run away. Sometimes I want to be my old self again. Walter Charles won't shut up, and I just want to turn him off, only with a baby, you can't. (21.60)
Violet isn't exactly having an easy time with this whole parenthood. Even though she loves Walter Charles, there are times when she doesn't want to be a mother anymore; she just wants to be a regular teenage girl again.
Quote #9
Sometimes you just want someone to put their arms around you, Carolyn told her. Even Garrett, who grew up never getting that kind of thing and sometimes has a hard time giving it—even someone like him needs it. Sometimes I think a person could give up food more easily than affection. (28.156)
Carolyn helps Wendy understand that Kate being with Josh isn't a betrayal. She needs to see just how lonely they've both been since Janet's death and recognize that they need some kind of solace and comfort in their lives.