What I should have been thankful for once.

I was having a really hard time trying to figure out what I was thankful for. It's not that I have nothing to be thankful for, because I have so much. It's that I take everything and everyone for granted. Which is why this isn't really about what I'm thankful for right now, because I'm going to go out and actually thank those people, or things- which may come off a little crazy if anybody watches me talking to my car telling it how thankful I am for its safety features that have kept me alive these past months. This is going to be focused on the people I should have thanked once upon a time but never got around to it. Whether by good or bad means, these people all changed me for the better. And that deserves all of my gratitude. This may take a really long time. Sorry. And also sorry if you happen to be one of these random people I'm all about showing late gratitude for. Because its so late, and also because its so random. I know it has been a long time since I've been friends with some of you, but I'll never forget the friends who led me into kindergarten, adolescence, and whatever now is.
Thank you, to the girl who told me when I was two years old I was good enough to be her friend. Who was my sister, both through friendship -and blood after we cut our fingers and dropped our blood in apple juice, and even though we decided it was too gross to drink we knew our blood would always be intertwined somewhere deep in the sewage system below her house. Who tried to keep our friendship alive through phone calls and sleepovers even after I moved and switched to public school and stopped playing basketball and started playing traveling soccer instead of on the team your dad coached. Who knew when we no longer had anything in common but a past. Who could let go.
...Thank you, to the neighbors who welcomed me into their world once upon a time. Thank you for making it easier for me to leave my old best friends behind and start fresh with new ones. Thank you for being the new ones then and the old ones now. Thank you to the neighbor I always fought with, and the one with whom I've never had a fight. I'm sorry that it never really balanced out. Thank you for putting up with me as long as you could when even I'm willing to admit I was an unbearable friend back then. ..Thank you to the girl next door who almost always forgave me for the drama I caused, and who laughed with me about it later on. ..Thank you to the girl across the street who explored the woods with me and built forts and sat with me on her roof and made me realize what a best friend truly was for those few short years. Both of your houses are currently occupied by young children who I can only hope will one day have half as much fun on that street was we used to....Thank you to the friend who still exists in so many of my stories. Whose remembered whenever I'm asked about my most embarrassing moment or how I got the nickname Mimz. Thank you being involved in so many memories and thank you for everything you did way back when. You always knew exactly what I needed to hear, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear. ...Thank you to the two girls that I always tried to get rid of but always found it way too hard. Thank you for making me laugh even when I was sure I could kill you. Thank you for pushing me to do my best even if that wasn't really what you intended. Thank you for being both convenient and comfortable despite the fact that "best friends" for us was never really more than the heading on top of a photo booth picture with the three of us in it. ...Thank you to the boy who spent everyday pointing out my flaws and still somehow managed to be my most durable friendship. Who taught me to laugh at myself, and although I'm sure it wasn't the intent: to be confident. Who I hope I taught something to along the way, but what I can't say. Whose friendship, despite my many efforts, I can't live without. ...Thank you to the friend who let me crash into a million pieces on his hardwood floor and then convinced me it was time to move forward. Who held my hand as I confessed everything. Who never judged or assumed but always listened. Who took me, baggage and all and called me his sister. Who was my brother for our too short lived friendship. ...Thank you to the girl who took me down the wrong path. Who understood me and let me make the mistakes I needed to make. Who taught me what a mistake really was. ...Thank you to the friend that told me what I was doing wrong. Even if that was the only thing she ever said that I really heard. ..Thank you to the boys that let me hurt them and never even thought about hurting me. And thank you to the few that did. ..Thank you to the friends that have slipped through the cracks in my memory after all this time. I'm grateful that every single one of you passed through my life. I learned from every last one of you what it means when somebody says "Don't take things for granted". I'm sorry it took me so long.

Social Classes in "The Glass Castle"

Imagine you grew up dirt poor, barely scraping by, constantly trying to find a way to make ends meet. Now imagine you grew up in a upper class family, always having your needs met and then some, never having to wonder about where your next meal will come from.

The effects of both these social classes would have a vast impact on your life. The effects of the poor social class she was in certainly had an impact on Jeannette Walls in "The Glass Castle".

From the first page, you can see how Jeannette's life improves from her childhood. When she comes across her mother picking through trash, and then proceeds home to her upper class apartment filled with unnecessary items, you see the huge difference between her life and the lives of her family. Growing up jumping from place to place, and home to home- sometimes not even having a clear home- can really change a person.

It's a common debate whether the life a child lives in a lower class can be considered beneficial or harmful for them in their adult years. In the case of the Walls' family, all but Maureen seemed to have positive outcomes in their lives stemming from their underprivileged childhoods. I know I'm going out on a limb here, saying that the good in their adult lives was caused by the bad in their childhood, rather than in spite of it, but the mere fact that the book exists supports that theory.

As bad as it sounds, the fact that Jeannette lived such a terrible childhood is what makes The Glass Castle an enjoyable read. The book wouldn't be worth reading had she grown up in an average middle class home, or even an upper class family. While her parents could still be bipolar and alcoholic, the lack of struggle to put food on the table each night would erase the biggest issue in the memoir. Living in a lower social class is what lead Jeannette to start writing in the first place, as an escape from the lack of everything her family needed.

The biggest effect the lower social class had on the Walls' children was a determination to strive for so much more in their lives. It wasn't in spite of the obstacles that they succeeded, it was because of them.

लिंडा ऎंड टिम ओ'Brien

Although Linda was only present in a small part of O'Brien's life and a small part of The Things They Carried, she had a large impact on both. O'Brien mentions himself how Linda's death started him out on his imagining and writing path.

The entire story of Linda is very cyclical. She gets brought up as O'Brien tells Kiowa that a Vietnamese man they have just seen is not his first experience with a dead body. Linda was.
The story of Linda brings insight past the war experiences, and past everything else the narrarator has revealed up to this point। While the story of O'Brien's first love seems irrelevant, strong connections can be found to his story of Vietnam.

Linda was O'Brien's first love and first love lost. She was the innocence a fourth grade boy had that was taken from him by way of a brain tumor. Vietnam was O'Brien's last great loss of innocence. Ironically he chooses to start his novel with Vietnam, and end it with Linda. This adds to the cycle effect by bringing his life journey full circle.
While The Things They Carried is all of the latest stories O'Brien invents, Linda was the oldest. When she died, and he allowed her to still be alive through his imagination, he started his career in writing. It only makes sense that she be the conclusion of his novel.