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Happy Family

Tracy Barone (Goodreads Author)

3.47 · Rating details · 934 ratings · 141 reviews

In Tracy Barone's mordantly funny debut, a fiercely independent woman is forced to come to terms with the family who raised her, the one who gave her away and the one she desperately wants.

Trenton, New Jersey, 1962: A pregnant girl staggers into a health clinic, gives birth, and flees. A foster family takes the baby in, and an unlikely couple, their lives unspooling from a ...more

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Hardcover, 393 pages

Published May 24th 2016 by Lee Boudreaux Books

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· 934 ratings · 141 reviews

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May 12, 2016 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, united-states, family-relationships, netgalley

Juicy Storytelling....effortless reading....engrossing, intimate, and terrific!!!!!!

I started this book early this morning while riding a spin stationary bike. My bike shoes
were clipped into my SPD's. ( SPD's are designed for clipless bicycle pedals)....Its kinda an oxymoron.... POINT IS..... I was strapped in ( seat belt fastened..haha), taking a ride into this complex world that author, Tracy Barone created. Great workout!!!!

There are several themes - which tie together. At the beginning a ba ...more

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Apr 30, 2016 Larry H rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

Cheri Matzner's life is in a bit of turmoil. She and her filmmaker husband are barely speaking yet she's trying to have a baby, her job as a professor of comparative religions is in jeopardy (but all she really wants is a spot on a crew slated to head to Iraq to catalog and translate antiquities), and she's trying to keep her overbearing, functionally alcoholic mother from throwing her a 40th birthday party.

But Cheri is used to chaos in her life, as she has reinvented herself more times than she Cheri Matzner's life is in a bit of turmoil. She and her filmmaker husband are barely speaking yet she's trying to have a baby, her job as a professor of comparative religions is in jeopardy (but all she really wants is a spot on a crew slated to head to Iraq to catalog and translate antiquities), and she's trying to keep her overbearing, functionally alcoholic mother from throwing her a 40th birthday party.

But Cheri is used to chaos in her life, as she has reinvented herself more times than she can count, from the suburban adolescent to the multiple-pierced, blue-haired teenager, from the slightly radical Yale student to the tough-as-nails cop entangled in a relationship with her partner. Part of her restlessness seems innate to her, but she'll admit some of her transformations have simply been ways of angering her adoptive parents—her well-meaning but emotionally distant father and her smothering, insecure mother. She's never really understood why her parents treated her the way they always have, but while she's tried to shrug it off for most of her life, they've affected her more than she cares to admit.

A series of professional and personal setbacks make Cheri question everything—her marriage, her maternal instincts, her career path, and her family. She reflects upon her life growing up as some sort of symbol to both of her parents (something different to each of them), and wonders how much of this is attributable to her adoption as an infant. But more than that, Cheri realizes that it can take a significant amount of time before you really understand your parents and yourself, and sometimes your lowest moments are what you need to really change your life.

Tracy Barone's Happy Family is an emotional and sometimes humorous book about how growing up in the midst of dysfunction can only prepare you for more dysfunction in adulthood. It's also a book about finding strength in difficult times, and how life has a way of surprising you, both positively and negatively. The description of the book led me to believe it would be more about Cheri's birth mother and the foster family that took her in when she was an infant, but their impact is felt only briefly at the start and end.

Barone is a tremendously talented writer, and I found myself so wrapped up in the plot of the book that I honestly didn't realize how good she was until I read a paragraph near the end of the book which made me gasp. I re-read that and then started noticing Barone's almost-poetic style in some places. Cheri is a fascinating, flawed character; this is her book, and some of the other characters paled in comparison to her. (Cheri's mother almost never transcended a stereotypical Italian immigrant, clinging fast to her old-school ways and customs despite being in the U.S. for many years.)

Happy Family is a sensitive and occasionally sexy portrait of a woman who always believed her life was more together than it actually is. If you've ever wondered whether why you are the way you are has more to do with your upbringing than your own choices, this is definitely a book you'll enjoy. Barone's writing ability is definitely worth taking notice of.

NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo.... ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Melissa Lee-Tammeus rated it liked it

Shelves: borrowed

Ergh, I took a long time sloughing through this book. It started out as a very interesting take on a family who loses a child through miscarriage and the husband adopts a baby on the sly to save his wife from complete mental ruin. I'm hooked. But then we take a swerve to the baby all grown up and dealing with the aftermath as well as her own stuff. And honestly, she's not a very likeable character. And I don't even like not liking her. Then we swerve back to the original parents and add in a bun ...more

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May 21, 2016 Tia rated it it was ok

Shelves: new

This book is not poorly written, and I did care about it enough to finish it. However, the problems I had with it were too big.

First of all, it starts out with this omnipresent narrative, not your typical third person that focuses on one character at a time. It reads like you are inside one person's head, then another person's who is in the next room or another floor of a house, and that's all within the same paragraph. It's very confusing.

We start out with a pregnant girl giving birth in a cl This book is not poorly written, and I did care about it enough to finish it. However, the problems I had with it were too big.

First of all, it starts out with this omnipresent narrative, not your typical third person that focuses on one character at a time. It reads like you are inside one person's head, then another person's who is in the next room or another floor of a house, and that's all within the same paragraph. It's very confusing.

We start out with a pregnant girl giving birth in a clinic, and leaving. We follow her baby to a foster family and later an adoptive family. We see things from her adoptive mother's point of view, who has lost her baby so recently that she is still producing milk. We see it from the point of view of the jealous adoptive father. And then we are shown the three month old baby's point of view, which was oddly cynical and a little bitchy for a newborn.

Then we jump all the way to Cheri, the baby, getting ready to turn 40. She's grown even more bitchy, and aside from a few chapters, you are stuck with her perspective for the rest of the book. She is not at all likable. I know, I know, some people don't need to like their protagonist. Hell, some people don't even need to like their friends or their spouses. I do. I'm very particular about who I spend my time with, who I follow on Facebook, and who narrates the hundreds of pages of a book I read.

Cheri's husband is even more obnoxious than she is. In fact, there are no likable characters, except maybe Cheri's adoptive mother, who Cheri treats like utter shit for no reason whatsoever. This really upset me. I cannot stand privileged white girls who are verbally abusive to their devoted mothers, I guess because all I ever wanted was a mom who didn't harm me. I used to daydream about being adopted, or even being a foster kid. They say no kids want to leave their parents, no matter how bad the situation is, but that's not true for me. I would've done anything to get out. Funny thing is, I'm kind to my mother now. I've forgiven her. But every time I ever meet someone who acts like their mom is the devil, it's just a case of them being a spoiled brat who was maybe loved too much. I have known people like Cheri. I avoid them like the plague.

Then we have all these marriage issues we have to read about, between Cheri and Michael. As I said, Michael is even worse than her. They are having problems, but I never got a sense that they ever loved or liked each other at all. Even finishing the book (and I won't give spoilers) their marriage seemed pretty shallow to me. Cheri is constantly thinking about her ex instead. And he turns out to be a monster, so I never understand why.

Cheri's adoptive family was rolling in the dough, and when the father died, she was left with such a great inheritance that she'd "never have to work again." But she refuses to touch the money. She hates her adoptive father, in his death as she did in his life, because of how he treated her mother—which makes little sense at all, because Cheri treats her mother far worse, and cannot even manage any sympathy for her when she is grieving her husband.

Also, wow, this book said "nigger" more than anything I can remember reading, and it wasn't for character development. White people used it a few times, but it was mostly a black woman referring to her husband that way. It's completely unnecessary to the story, since racism is never even touched on. It just seems to be one of the author's favorite words.

And this book went on for about 150 pages longer than it needed to. This is one of those Wally Lamb type novels, an everything but the kitchen sink book. Thrown in as many maudlin events and emotions and "problematic" tumblr issues as possible! Neatly wrap it all up in an unbelievable way. It's a great book for white feminists, because all the plot is really just ivy surrounding that type of agenda. It's a poor little rich girl tale, but mainly about how unfair it is being a woman. ...more

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Apr 22, 2016 Lolly K Dandeneau rated it it was amazing

"She was finally free from the irons of family obligation."

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No, she wasn't. We never are- there always chains in wait. A baby girl is born, her young mother is a beautiful mess and a high school boy is lost in an infatuation for that most interesting woman around, surely if he keeps her baby she will return for it and maybe into his arms as thanks? That is the lusty wishful thinking of Billy Beal who offers up his own family's nest to care f "She was finally free from the irons of family obligation."

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No, she wasn't. We never are- there always chains in wait. A baby girl is born, her young mother is a beautiful mess and a high school boy is lost in an infatuation for that most interesting woman around, surely if he keeps her baby she will return for it and maybe into his arms as thanks? That is the lusty wishful thinking of Billy Beal who offers up his own family's nest to care for the infant. It is a loud family, but generous in their chaos. Just as the reader gets hooked by them, another mother faces a tragic loss, this whim of fate is in young Cheri's favor and she soon finds herself a Matzner. Beautiful and exotic Cici mesmerized Sol Matzner so much that his love for her cost him his family as well as his religious identity. Jewish or not, most families have their own sort of prejudice, that old "us" vs "them" mentality. Everyone likes to think their family is beyond those old world values, but experience tells me something is always going to be unacceptable. It's one thing to accept anything foreign ideally, but within one's own family- certainly not. Sol follows his feelings and through an enormous loss tries to fix his wife's broken heart with the young infant. It's too much to reveal what happens from there, but we understand how a child can be salvation and devastation, depending on whose prospective we're privy to.
Forty years later we see where life has led Cheri. Her choices, coming from a privileged home are questionable in her parent's opinion, but one has to wonder is the author throwing the readers a bone to wonder about nurture vs nature? She chose East Village with it's colorful characters much to her parents shock. Cheri abandons her elite education to work for the NYPD and certainly must have been comfortable with seedy situations. In fact, she almost seems to try on different lives. Abandoning higher learning only to return to it when she's burned out on being a cop. Why is it so difficult between her father Sol and her? Her mother certainly exhausts her too, but there is a deeper bond between them. What is going on with her love life? She wants to get pregnant, her and her husband are trying but maybe she wants it more than him? Maybe neither of them want it anymore?
This story is overflowing, there is so much happening that starts in abandonment. There are different issues- religion, being a foreigner, being adopted, love that fades, love that consumes, loss, lies, evasion, trying to protect those you love from brutal reality, endings, beginnings... What is identity exactly? Is it necessary to grow into the skin our family has passed down to us or is it better to shed it and sew our own? Do you ever really escape your biological make-up, or does it simply rise to the surface.
Who knows? But this is one hell of a book! ...more

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Dec 04, 2016 Victoria rated it it was ok

’If life is a river, we can see only a small patch of it. A little in front of us, some behind. We don’t know when we’re going to run into a tributary or hit a waterfall. If you could pull back and up to see how it all connects to the ocean, if you could see the whole story of all of your parents and their parents, would it alter your memories of them?

If you could do that, even for a moment, you’d get God’s sense of humor. You’d know your story is perfect. That your terribly imperfect parents we ...more

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Jan 08, 2016 Melodie rated it it was amazing

I absoloutly loved this novel. I literally never wanted it to end. The way it is written transports you in, making you feel such empathy for the main protagonist, Cheri Matzner. This novel mirrors the complexity and beauty of life itself.

An amazing read, will have you wanting more with every page.

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Jan 08, 2016 Rick Mordecon rated it it was amazing

This amazing , engrossing book not only holds your attention with its riveting dialogue and incredible plot structure, but it makes your emotional temperature rise throughout. A deftly drawn, personal portrayal of family, lost love, and found self esteem and confidence. A page turner, quick to read, stylish, sensual and raw at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

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May 13, 2016 Kim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

A young girl gives birth to a baby and walks out of the clinic. That baby is adopted by a couple unable to have a child of their own. Decades later, Cheri Matzner is all grown up but nothing in her life is going quite as well as she'd like.

Work, her marriage, and dealing with her well-meaning but overbearing mother are all sources of strife as she nears her 40th birthday. She's a former cop and current orofessor, and the details in this novel are so well researched and thoroughly described that ...more

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Jul 13, 2016 Jaclyn Crupi rated it it was ok

2.5 Simply put, this book is not as good as its cover. Perhaps I'm just tired of reading about rich white families and their dysfunction and secrets but this book fell completely flat for me. The writing was serviceable without ever being great and the plot reveals were far too obvious. I also thought the readers' allegiances were confused. The start of the book made me emphasise strongly with the adoptive parents only to have perspective shift to the adopted daughter who is extremely 'unlikeabl ...more

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Jan 25, 2017 Stephanie rated it did not like it

Shelves: books-read-in-2017

Ugh ugh UGH.

I grabbed this one at the library because it had great cover art and some highly favorable book jacket blurbs from authors I really respect.

I despised the characters. They were miserable, rude, self involved, and negative. I slogged through and endured until the main character remarked that she was "autistic before she had her morning coffee" and then I just stopped reading. Seriously. With only a few chapters left.

UGH. ...more

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May 04, 2016 Sheri rated it liked it

This book was only ok for me. Was tired of Cheri by about 2/3 of the way through and wanted to hear more about CiCi and Sol and would have loved to know more about Cheri's biological mom. ...more

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Jun 07, 2016 Susan Becraft rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An extraordinary debut

Tracy Barone, a name I quickly added to my collection of favored writers, debuted with a splendid book. Having just mucked through two highly unsatisfactory books by seasoned writers, I was gobsmacked by the many skills of a rookie.

The story is driven by a collection of beautifully developed, believable characters, all of whom I came to love. Each one was so real that I occasionally found myself giving them unsolicited advice through the screen of my Kindle. Conjuring up a An extraordinary debut

Tracy Barone, a name I quickly added to my collection of favored writers, debuted with a splendid book. Having just mucked through two highly unsatisfactory books by seasoned writers, I was gobsmacked by the many skills of a rookie.

The story is driven by a collection of beautifully developed, believable characters, all of whom I came to love. Each one was so real that I occasionally found myself giving them unsolicited advice through the screen of my Kindle. Conjuring up a person in one's mind and creating a realistic life on paper is not only a unique skill, but also an art, usually accomplished only by selected experienced writers. Tracy Barone achieved in her first book what many writers never get quite right.

I have read countless stories centered around adoption, and Happy Family is my new favorite. Sol and Cici Matzner, the adoptive parents of an infant girl, make an unusual and often hilarious couple. The marriage of a Jewish doctor to a beautiful Italian, Catholic child bride, almost unheard of in the 1950s, wreaks havoc on the newlyweds' families. Sol converts to Catholicism in a futile attempt to assuage Cici's family, but he is disowned by the Matzner clan. How ironic that Cici becomes the stereotypical Jewish mother! They name their daughter Cheri, dropping the 'e' from their favorite term of endearment.

Through Cheri, the reader learns of her life through her first forty years. Everything she does thwarts Cici's plans. She is a complex character as she comes of age. From hippie to the NYPD to an expert in an arcane field, she is fiercely independent even after she marries.

The writing of this fast-paced story is close to flawless. The narrative is filled with biting wit, especially with regard to Cici. Despite all her years in America, she still butchers the English language, resulting in countless malaprops. Again Tracy Barone excels where many fail. Rather than sounding forced or demeaning, Cici's attempts are natural and often hilarious. She is the ultimate helicopter parent to a daughter who wants little to do with her family.

I already miss the Matzner family and recommend this book to everyone who wants to meet them. ...more

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Jul 16, 2016 Julie rated it did not like it

Ugh.
Awful.
Didn't like any of the characters. The author seemed to develop a storyline and then abandon it & start with someone else. No consistency.
Used "autistic" offensively to describe a character before he has coffee?!
Waste of my time. Don't waste yours. ...more

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May 14, 2016 Arleene rated it it was amazing

I devoured this book...I couldn't put it down! I don't like to spoil a good story so I won't. I will say that this multi-layered story took you through the ride of navigating one family's crazy. I cried, I laughed, and at the end you get a sense that every family, no matter how fucked up, works with their fucked upness.

I really like the fact that it gave you enough information but not too much where you felt the story dragged. It hinted at things and you just had to keep on reading because you ...more

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Jul 07, 2016 ClairetheLibrarian rated it did not like it

This book started off wonderfully with the past story of how the adoption came to be. . . But once it turned to present tense with the main character "Cheri" I lost 88% of my interest. I only picked it back up because I finished my other available books. The author can write well, but I found the entire plot as well as the details and dialogue all over the map. It's as if Barone wanted to tell 3 stories and fit it into one book. ...more

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Jan 08, 2016 Tamar Halpern rated it it was amazing

Brilliant, witty, deep and fierce. A could-not-put-it-down tale of one woman's search for family in the scorched earth that came before her, and in the remains of the fires she sets. Funny, bitter, all around delicious. ...more

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Jul 16, 2018 Mel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So I've finally figured out why I didn't love Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Happy Family had what Evelyn's story did not. I don't think it was just the 3rd-person narration here worked better, but also that the aesthetic quality of the writing here seemed eons more developed. Barone's prose worked so well for this mini-epic, as the family members were introduced: Cece and Sal, the adoptive parents of Cheri, the infant to fill the hole made when they lost their biological son a few weeks prior d ...more

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May 18, 2017 Jen rated it liked it

Solid three stars. It was pretty predictable which was fine with me, but well written with a dark humor underlying it that gave a little edge. This is a classic messed up family story; no one communicates and the secrets have a tendency to eat everyone up.

The narrator changed a couple of times between mom and daughter but at least in my recollection it happened at natural breaks so it didn't bother me.

My biggest complaint with this book is it is lacking depth and heart. All the pieces are righ ...more

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Oct 01, 2019 Ashley rated it it was ok

There are no characters in this story that I can relate to or that I even like. Cici, the mother, maybe. I was intetested in the beginning story... wish that part continued instead of fast forwarding to the babys life as a 40 year old woman whos bitter towards everyone and everything. The story is very predictable.

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Apr 13, 2017 Kelli Sellers rated it really liked it

This is a moving story about families, how they begin and how they are defined. Really great story that comes full circle. But, I was hoping for a little more from the ending.

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Feb 01, 2016 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: review-books, 2016

[3 stars]

At the center of this roving story lies Cherie, a baby born and abandoned by her teenaged mother, taken into a foster home due to the convincing of young Billy, and ultimately adopted by a distraught couple in hopes of filling a void left by the recent loss of their biological child. The timeline flexes and folds as the story is revealed from various perspectives, but mostly revolves around Cherie as its axis. Teenaged clinic custodian Billy, adoptive parents Sol and Cici, husband Mich [3 stars]

At the center of this roving story lies Cherie, a baby born and abandoned by her teenaged mother, taken into a foster home due to the convincing of young Billy, and ultimately adopted by a distraught couple in hopes of filling a void left by the recent loss of their biological child. The timeline flexes and folds as the story is revealed from various perspectives, but mostly revolves around Cherie as its axis. Teenaged clinic custodian Billy, adoptive parents Sol and Cici, husband Michael, young and middle-aged Cherie all share some of the storytelling in this heartbreaking yet hopeful novel.

Cherie had every promise of being a fascinatingly interesting character, unfortunately her story never fully came together for me, leaving sections of her life annoyingly unexplained in a way where I was unable to fill in the blanks as to how she got from point A to point B. I felt held at arm’s length, and thus was never able to fully connect or feel empathy for Cherie in the way I’m sure was intended.

I was actually more interested in lives and roles of the supporting characters. Who is Billy, and what lies behind his motivation to convince his parents to foster an abandoned baby? What is the back story of Cherie’s biological mother, and how did she find herself delivering a baby while simultaneously shooting up stolen morphine? What was going on in Cici’s mind when her husband showed up with infant Cherie so soon after losing their own biological son? What is the actual deal with Sol? (I have many specific questions about him, but that would involve too many spoilers). How did Cherie’s and Michael’s relationship evolve from its electrifying start? I could go on and on, with questions I actually want to read about, versus what I actually read about.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a well written, solid-enough novel, and one I would consider recommending to the right reader looking for a certain kind of reading experience. Full of heart and heartbreak, it forces the reader to ponder age old questions of nature versus nurture, however, it lacks the wow factor necessary to leave a significant lasting impression. If you’re looking for an enjoyable, easily readable story, give this one a try.

For more, visit http://www.bookishtendencies.com ...more

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Jan 01, 2017 Bryce Van Vleet rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-stars, lee-boudreaux-books, authors-to-keep-an-eye-on, family-fiction

Happy Family is full of anything but. Cheri Matzner is the middle-aged version of a child abandoned in an inner city health clinic. Her marriage is in shambles, and, to make matters worse, childless. Her relationship with her parents is, put nicely, complicated, and with little hope of repair as her father has recently passed. Those same parents were the ones who adopted baby Cheri, after suffering a hopeless tragedy that leaves one of them feeling ostracized from the family unit.

There's some ...more

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May 11, 2016 T. rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley

Happy Family is a complex story about the myriad of ways adoption can touch lives. Written in a roving POV, it takes readers from the mind of the young addicted mother who gave up her daughter (Cheri) to the family who fostered Cheri, to the family who ultimately adopted her, and then jumps to Cheri's adult life, where she lives with her husband and is trying to have a baby.

I can't say that this is an uninteresting premise but I had a really hard time connecting with this book. The roving POV, i ...more

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Dec 23, 2015 Kathleen Gray rated it really liked it

I'm torn about how to rate this well written novel. It felt like two or three different novels were going on - the tone of the beginning did not match the second third, which did not match the final third. There were just SO MANY things. I did not understand how Cheri got from religion major to cop to Yale to expert on and translator of Mesopatamia. We eventually learn why she left being a police officer but not the Mesopatamia part. The university section was not consistent, there was a whole n ...more

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Aug 11, 2016 Zoe's Human rated it liked it

Shelves: giveaway-goodreads, coming-of-age, family-saga

Happy Family is the coming-of-age story of a 40 year old woman who discovers herself as her world crashes and burns around her. The characters are all complex and, as a result of that complexity, quite real. It offers the pace and engagement of a light read, yet a message of compassion and understanding is delicately woven into its pages.

I think the biggest drawback for me with this book is my dislike of the main character. She's self-absorbed and ungrateful. It's a bit of a challenging to get i ...more

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Oct 28, 2016 Lyra rated it it was ok

Shelves: industry-related

First things first, this novel is written in the third person present tense, which is perhaps my least favorite, so that may taint my review. This book was maddening. The author can turn a lovely, evocative phrase and I like how she generated empathy for a character who has many unlikable traits. The head-hopping and timeline hopping made the story a jumble, and when the last chapter is taken into consideration, there is a significant issue with the structural logic. I'm being vague to avoid spo ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Laura rated it it was amazing

Maybe I was just in the mood for this book. Everything about it hit the spot and I liked the characters (not always the case and increasingly more so in fiction these days). Reading it made me nostalgic for my own parents and childhood and also knocked me in the head that I am a parent of teenagers now too and how did that happen when I still feel and even long to be the child again. Family is a wild and mysterious force that propels each and every one of us forward from day one to the end.

I'm ...more

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Jul 04, 2016 Jordan rated it it was ok

This book was just okay. The story is about the life of Cheri, a baby left unwanted and finally adopted. This is a story of her life, and who she becomes as an adult.

The story itself was fine, but I really disliked Cheri. There were plenty of supporting characters, but none of them were all that enjoyable or pleasant to read about either. I like characters with flaws, but I don't enjoy reading a book where I just don't like any of the characters.

This will be a forgettable read for me. I wouldn't ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Adele Stratton rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

I gave up on this about halfway through, which is something I rarely do. I loved the beginning, but as soon as the story switched to the grown daughter, things started to fall apart for me. I lost interest big-time in the story and the characters.

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About Tracy Barone

Tracy Barone

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Tracy Barone earned her MFA in dramatic writing at NYU and has worked as a screenwriter and playwright. She has worked in Hollywood, where she was the Executive Producer on Wild, Wild, West, Rosewood, and My Fellow Americans, and was instrumental in the acquisition and development of numerous films, including Men in Black and Ali. In addition to an MFA, Barone holds a B.A. from NYU. http://www.tra ...more

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Quotes from Happy Family

“Our work is to forgive ourselves first. For all the anger, pain, and disappointment we lug around every day. For not doing enough or being enough. Then forgive others ... You know the list. And take responsibility. We create our reality with our choices in relationships, what we say about ourselves to ourselves.” — 4 likes

“If life is a river, we can see only a small patch of it. A little in front of us, some behind. We don’t know when we’re going to run into a tributary or hit a waterfall. If you could pull back and up to see how it all connects to the ocean, if you could see the whole story of all of your parents and their parents, would it alter your memories of them?

If you could do that, even for a moment, you’d get God’s sense of humor. You’d know your story is perfect. That your terribly imperfect parents were perfect for you, that your life could only have been written by and for you.” — 0 likes

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