Separation Anxiety

by Laura Zigman

It’s hard for me to believe those moments ever happened; that I was ever in the middle of all that love, and time, and possibility, and that now I’m not. Life eventually takes away everyone and everything we love and leaves us bereft. Is that its sad lesson?

these used to give me joy but don’t anymore, because they only remind me of what isn’t anymore.

marriage already feels like a suffocation,

full of stupid youthful optimism, fantasies of block parties and progressive dinners and neighborhood yard sales played in my head. I wanted community, and connection, and a sense of belonging.

I’ve moved from outgoing young mother and children’s book writer to invisible middle-aged content-generator

“Because I’m dead inside. And I don’t know if I’ll ever feel not dead.”

but being told you’re weird at a young age almost certainly guarantees you’ll feel weird as an adult. Some children grow stronger in the broken places, like

Same with being told you're ugl by your own parent, and by that same parent to cover your face with foundation...

bones; others grow sadder. I did both.

Being a child’s primary focus is temporary, fleeting; I knew that the aperture was closing, that the light on me would eventually dim and I’d be replaced with friends.

My naïveté is staggering in retrospect,

feels like it’s too late. I already feel like I’m in too deep.

can cost you almost everything.

baby. It’s not good for the dog.”

Something i thought since she first started this...all about *her* no thoughts whatsoever about the dog she's forcing her will on

“She is free.” “No, she’s not. She’s trapped.”

Exactly!!!!

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I say, but the minute I utter the f-word, even more of a crowd gathers. “Now, wait a minute,” a dude wearing spandex bicycle shorts says to me. “That was uncalled for.” “Who the fuck are you? The fuck police?” I do a big theatrical shrug and look around for support. No one is with me. Instead of deterring me, it only emboldens me. “I’ll tell you what’s uncalled for,” I say, pointing at his encased thighs. “That outfit.”

I was borderline liking this character,transitioning into disliking and this...i do not like her at all.she's judgmental while continuing to care little for those around her except for what she can get from them...but when called out she's all bitch as though calling someone a troll without them even opening their mouth just by the mere presence as though she can identify a troll just because it feels to her like someone she's not going to like...

stuck in a marriage you wish you could leave,

The only thing that made sense when choosing this book

only reward really getting a full set of unsightly adult braces

Again a selfish act..they're too poor for actual divorce,but she spends thousands on braces.

Shouldn’t you let him go and be happy? Shouldn’t you stop your “confinement and restraint” of not just the dog, but of him, too?

EXACTLY!!!

“But because they’re a mob of entitled crazy-people, I’m going to pretend to write you a citation.” She winks at me, then flips to a clean piece of paper on her clipboard and takes a pen out from behind her ear. “So I’m going to write it like this—All work and no play make Jack a dull boy—The Shining, that’s my favorite movie—and then I’m going to do a big John Hancock at the bottom.” She winks again. “And now I’m going to make a big deal of handing it to you like this and you’re going to look at it and nod like I’m explaining it to you.”

The angry mob may have overstepped, but they have a point and you don't see the whole picture,but take the side of the person in question...that is partially what continues to be wrong with society. You don't see the abuse, the bullying, the racism..so it doesn't exist and it keeps happening because the accused never actually "gets caught" in the act of doing the *crime

I shake Ranger Molly’s hand through the window of her van. “Well, thanks for saving me.” “If I were you, I’d take a break from this place for a while,” she says, backing out, the tires of her van crunching the gravel as she turns the wheels. I wave, then get the dog back into the car. Don’t worry. I won’t be back.

She wasn't the one needing saved...the innocent dog was...this ranger did not do her job. She warned the perpetrator to hide the sins rather than correct them!

Doesn’t the fact that she has almost no footprint online mean she has something to hide?

Or that the things your searching mean nothing to her..what is it that people no longer respect privacy and instead feel entitled to know everything about a person... and when they can't find it accuse people of hiding things!

Then I lean against the counter with my arms under the dog in the sling

And still she forces the poor dog to be captive instead of free...she learned NOTHING!!!and the ranger did no favors to the poor animal being victimized

Grief obliterates the present, forcing you to relive the past and dread the future.