In Pieces

“I wait for my mother to haunt me as she promised she would; long to wake in the night with the familiar sight of her sitting at the end of my bed, to talk to her one more time, to feel that all the pieces have been put into place, the puzzle is solved, and I can rest.”

Field’s emotional beginning to her story reveals the central relationship that shaped her life: her bond with her mother. This quotation suggests that their relationship is a main focus of Field’s memoir and communicates Field’s deep attachment to her. By sharing her grief for her mother and her desire to feel a sense of closure about the “puzzle” of her life, Field introduces The Legacy of Family Relationships as a theme.

“All of them with wounds that wouldn’t heal because no one acknowledged they were bleeding, and yet each of them needing the other to be near. And that—I realize—is how this story fits into my life. These generations of women, weaving a pattern into a lifelong garment, unconsciously handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter to me.”

Field discusses the complicated relationships between her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. While these women relied on each other and lived together for many years, unspoken grievances haunted them and prevented them from fully understanding each other. By reflecting on how family relationships create unconscious patterns that repeat in the next generation, Field adds thematic depth to the legacy of family relationships.

“Believe me, Dick ignored us both equally. I felt like the sacrificial lamb. I had to go no matter what—with my brother or without—and I hated it. I fought or whined or faked illness: anything to try to get out of the visit.”

Field’s memories about her father, Dick, starkly contrast with her warm relationship with her mother. This passage gives insight into Field’s mind as a young child, providing context for understanding her distant relationship with her father.