Anne’s Kindle Notes & Highlights

A Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler

One thing that parents of problem children never said aloud: it was a relief when the children turned out okay, but then what were the parents supposed to do with the anger they’d felt all those years?

I’m not so sure about this one. Maybe those parents still feel anger, I’m thinking now; it’s just that they don’t voice it to the rest of us. Oh, we parents are so vigilant about protecting our children from the outside world’s disapproval! I have no idea what’s going through the heads of the parents who have been through real hell with their children. It was probably presumptuous of me even to hazard a guess.

Elizabeth Marro and 49 other people liked this

17 Mar 22 · Flag

Janet

I taught high school special ed and my students were often in trouble. Some parents openly raged in meetings at their teenager - at the school - at society at large. When the kid graduated, they were …

18 Mar 22 · Flag

Jennifer Hughes

Overall, it is a relief. The anger doesn't linger; it resolves into scar tissue--a reminder of those hard times. And a low-grade fear always remains that trouble may be coming as soon as the next phon…

23 May 22 · Flag

Ceri

I have one of these children. I think of this quote at least once a week. I have gone through hell—and to read that someone thought it was ok to hold onto that resentment have me huge relief. I’m stil…

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