A High School Story

I really loved this whole page. Thomas seems to be producing lots of stories with lots of optimism, hope, acceptance. I love the way she describes how it’s okay and you just got to keep going to achieve something. It won’t always be good the first time around, but you can’t give up. I also enjoyed reading this part since I think everyone can relate to it. Whatever you’re apart of, you might do something amazing. If you’re into art, you love a piece you made and want to make more like it since that one turned out so good. If you’re into sports and scored a goal or did some cool new thing, you want to do it again since it produced good results. What Thomas points out is that it’s hard to create the same thing, or do it again. But you have to try and have faith to achieve something. Also, she related it back to writing very nicely. She connected the two ideas so readers can see that this feeling applies to many other things, not just painting or art.

In this video, Abigail Thomas discusses different books that she truly enjoys and what they mean to her. One part of this interview that really stuck out to me was towards the beginning where she was talking about how her mother takes offense to the stories Abigail writes about when it talks about mothers. Her mom thinks that she is talking about her, but Abigail Thomas’s mom does not understand that Thomas is simply talking about herself. I think I can see this as I’m reading this story because it’s very apparent that Thomas struggles of being a mother and not being able to identify with her daughter, see what her daughter is feeling, and overall just being a good mother. However, Thomas does not have any negative intentions. It is very obvious that she is trying to be a good mom and she’s trying to see how to take the next step in building her relationships and bettering herself.

Considering I watch a lot of TV shows, many little things remind me of certain shows I’ve watched. This passage talked about how Thomas wanted to tell her husband something, but couldn’t find herself to do so, since she feared his anger and judgment, but technically was scared of her own, since she didn’t want to judge her best friend. The whole book is about her and her best friend, and this point is a little twist since she has to act against her best friend. She didn’t agree with his actions and wanted to tell her husband. She went ahead to not telling her husband, and later on he got hit by a car and afterwards, nothing would be the same. She couldn’t tell him now and she regretted it. This related me back to Greys Anatomy, a show about surgeons operating and living their life in Seattle. Many big eye opening moments in this show is doing what you want, doing the right thing, acting boldly, and not holding back in life since you don’t know when it will end. You don’t know when people will be taken away from you, or when you could be taken away from them. There are definitely many other shows and movies that highlight this idea. It allows people to understand that life isn’t that long and you truly should live it to the best of your abilities and do what you want. Thomas throughout this whole book so far discusses parts of her life, her regrets, her passions, what she wants to do and how she learns from her mistakes. This part of the book I think helps show character development since she finally realized that she needs to act more boldly and do what she wants to do, without constantly second guessing herself.

Something reoccurring I see is Thomas’s self confidence. In the beginning I thought it would show her strong sense of self, but I guess that’s the point of the book— to show her growth as a mother, friend, wife, and writer (creator). When she was trying to find another meaning for failure, I think she was trying to make a meaning of something. She was trying to make sense of failure and why it’s such a prominent thing in her life. When she couldn’t find anything, she had a realization that failure is just failure, always has been and always will.

I think in today’s society, the word depression is taken very lightly. I hear my friends, kids around me, people on social media, everywhere, saying how they’re “depressed”, not really knowing the true meaning or seriousness of this mental health issue. In this passage, Thomas discusses how she has known Chuck for 31 years, and how he doesn’t know that she’s been depressed. He turns the topic to himself and says that she hasn’t been depressed, but it’s been him that’s depressed. They keep tossing around this word, even after this passage, and it makes me confused as to if it’s a serious issue in Thomas’s life, or if it’s just a, “I had a few rough days so I was depressed,” kind of thing. I also thing it’s interesting that they’ve known eachother for the longest time and neither of them truly realized that the other, or both, are going through a “depression” phase, IF it’s genuinely serious. All in all, it just reminded me an issue I hear about and see today about how depression is used in ways it shouldn’t be, and it’s more serious than others bring it out to be.

Considering I watch a lot of TV shows, many little things remind me of certain shows I’ve watched. This passage talked about how Thomas wanted to tell her husband something, but couldn’t find herself to do so, since she feared his anger and judgment, but technically was scared of her own, since she didn’t want to judge her best friend. The whole book is about her and her best friend, and this point is a little twist since she has to act against her best friend. She didn’t agree with his actions and wanted to tell her husband. She went ahead to not telling her husband, and later on he got hit by a car and afterwards, nothing would be the same. She couldn’t tell him now and she regretted it. This related me back to Greys Anatomy, a show about surgeons operating and living their life in Seattle. Many big eye opening moments in this show is doing what you want, doing the right thing, acting boldly, and not holding back in life since you don’t know when it will end. You don’t know when people will be taken away from you, or when you could be taken away from them. There are definitely many other shows and movies that highlight this idea. It allows people to understand that life isn’t that long and you truly should live it to the best of your abilities and do what you want. Thomas throughout this whole book so far discusses parts of her life, her regrets, her passions, what she wants to do and how she learns from her mistakes. This part of the book I think helps show character development since she finally realized that she needs to act more boldly and do what she wants to do, without constantly second guessing herself.

In this video, Abigail Thomas discusses different books that she truly enjoys and what they mean to her. One part of this interview that really stuck out to me was towards the beginning where she was talking about how her mother takes offense to the stories Abigail writes about when it talks about mothers. Her mom thinks that she is talking about her, but Abigail Thomas’s mom does not understand that Thomas is simply talking about herself. I think I can see this as I’m reading this story because it’s very apparent that Thomas struggles of being a mother and not being able to identify with her daughter, see what her daughter is feeling, and overall just being a good mother. However, Thomas does not have any negative intentions. It is very obvious that she is trying to be a good mom and she’s trying to see how to take the next step in building her relationships and bettering herself.

From this passage, I took away what I see a lot in movies and during my daily life, where young or old kids say that they aspire to be like their parents. I think this is a phrase every parents wishes and dreams to hear, since it makes them feel like they’re doing something right and they’re child appreciates them. It reminded me specifically of Gilmore Girls, one of my favorite shows. It’s about a mother and daughter who’s bond is incomparable, despite their obvious differences. The mother, Lorlei was once talking to her mom, and said that hearing her daughter, Rory, say she wants to be like her mom, warmed her heart since Rory has gotten so much farther in life than Lorlei has, and she is so much brighter than her, yet Rory still aspires to be like her mother. Abigail Thomas in this passage explains the exact thing, saying that people comparing her and her daughter to being alike is a compliment for the mother. I think this phrase is universal and something that goes unnoticed by viewers since it seems normal. The only people who really feel and understand how special these words are, are the ones who are receiving it.

I feel like this passage is important and might mean something more later on in the book.