Done! Random thoughts...

I finished this weekend, thanks to a weekend away at a hotel during which I was sick and let the kids watch TV all afternoon. Oh, well... Anyway, I liked it because it made me think. About my life, and the lives of people around me. How we affect other people without even meaning to. She was a grouchy old lady who didn't really mean to help anyone, but she saved the life of that guy contemplating suicide, and she was a part of that anorexic girl getting help. I found that really interesting. When I thought of her, I totally pictured Mrs Woods , 9th grade English. Bill Hubbard used to call her Ms. Dubya. Remember her? That's the image I got.
The relationship with her son struck me as well. Perhaps because I have two of them. If I had just had one, would I have developed that kind of smothering relationship with Todd? Hopefully not, but who knows? It makes me want to evaluate how I speak to them and treat them.When I lose my patience and yell, I know I do damage. I don't want them to remember me that way. She thought she was just loving him intensely in her own way, but her behavior totally pushed him away. The "capriciousness of her moods"... was that the term?
It also made me think of my relationship with Matt. 7 years in, I still love him, but the daily grind and raising two boys takes a toll. I want to make sure I'm still appreciating him and not taking him for granted the way Olive did with Henry. It takes a lot of work and I can see how after so many years, Olive and Henry ended up the way they did. I want more than that, and I want to make sure we take time for each other so that we can stay connected.
This book was just really real to me. The struggles that people go through in their relationships...depicted so vividly. Life is short. I want to live it to the fullest and treat people well, so that when I get to be Olive's age, I won't look back and regret the way she did. The moments she squandered with Henry, the way she treated her son.
Just some random thoughts...happy to discuss more. I have to finish Eat Pray Love and thenI'm ready for the next one. Got two more suggestions this weekend: The Forgotten Garden and The Help.