Hello, again. The weather outside is quite nice, but at the same time, scares me. I don't like winter. I want to be able to wander the streets aimlessly with nothing to do, but thats over. Eh, oh well. I'll adjust.
Any who. The book. Right. So my book is very interesting, very sad. Danielle is realizing how her family is slowly drifting apart. Her mom got a new job, and is now rarely home. With school, work, and partying late at night, Danielle rarely ever sees her anymore. Danielle's dad can also see what is happening.

"Maybe during the month my mother was building herself a new life, Dad could have changed things. Perhaps if he had talked to her, she would have stayed. But it was probably too late for talking. At that point, little could have been done. And besides, my father didn't believe in negotiation. Jabbering doesn't solve anything, he would say. He would never, for any reason, have admitted that he had driven her away."

He realizes he is losing her, and it is killing him. His drinking is becoming constant. He had cheated on his wife before, and hes realizing it may be a two way street. The book does a flashback, and talks about another hard time for Danielle's family. When Danielle was eleven, her mom had gave birth to a still-born. Danielle says her mom was in her bed for weeks and would rarely leave the room, she seemed to be ill. But one day when Danielle comes home from school, she sees her mom is not there. After her dad comes home, he tells the kids the news. Danielle is crushed. Even though she didn't know her mom was pregnant, for the brief moment she knew her mom had given birth (and it hadn't died), she couldn't wait to have another kid in the house. She thought that maybe there would still be hope for the family to stay together. Her dad leaves the kids alone for the night, and she is forced to be the parent of the house.

"I told them Dad's annoyance meant he loved us more than words could express; his drinking meant he sufferet more acutely than other people; his coldness was a cover for intense feeling. I apologized for Dad and forfave him in advance. I interpreted Dad and spoke for Dad. I convinced myself that I was capable of this. And sometimes I was."