A Spool of Blue Thread

by Anne Tyler

You wake in the morning, you’re feeling fine, but all at once you think, “Something’s not right. Something’s off somewhere; what is it?” And then you remember that it’s your child—whichever one is unhappy.

It makes me smile now to think of a discussion my husband and I had when we were deciding when to start a family. Were we ready yet, we asked each other, to devote eighteen whole years to another human being? Eighteen! Ha! My daughters are in their fifties now, and instead of taking them off my worry list I’ve just added my grandchildren and my sons-in-law.