# 4 Mary Anne Saves the Day

[oldhickory]

maybe richard insisted on skirts because that's how alma dressed MA when she was a baby, or because alma preferred skirts for herself.

[sparklymouse]

Maybe Richard could see into the future and wanted to be sure everyone knew Mary Anne really was a girl before she went and got that questionable haircut...

[zoar3]

^Good point, Oldhickory. Do we know exactly when Alma died? I think it was before Mary Anne was one, possibly long before but don't remember. I ask because if she had lived for awhile then it would make a lot of sense that Richard bought what he thought she would have or kept in line with clothing Alma had bought for infant MA.

LOL, thanks for that, Sparklymouse. Nice to see you back, btw, too.

[starrynight]

^ Exactly when Alma died is one of the many inconsistencies in the series. For the most part, she died when MA was close to a year old (I think she finds pictures of herself with Verna and Bill, celebrating her first birthday). Near the beginning of the series, though, MA makes it sound like she was a little older when her mom died, and that she has vague memories of her.

[Honeybee]

^ So her mother could died around, when she was 3 or 4 years old. Because, kids start remembering, by the age of 3.

[oldhickory]

i think it was mentioned that MA was already living with her grandparents when she was six months old. i distinctly remember thinking "oh, so she lived there from 6 to 18 months and that was a whole year then" but i don't remember which book included that. so if that is true and not another inconsistency, she was much younger than the age kids start remembering.

[zoar3]

^On Page 14 of MA's Book it says her grandparents raised her until she was 18 months old. It does not say when Richard sent her to Iowa. I also think that somewhere, possibly in "Secret in the Attic?" (I'll dig through it later if no one posts before) MA tells us how her dad fought to get her back. I think that's when the age she went to Iowa is revealed. Most everything concerning Iowa (or Maryland and Nebraska as its sometimes known) is very inconsistent!

[wanderingfrog]

Reread this recently and it felt odd that Mary Anne was the one who asked Dawn if she had the movie The Parent Trap and Dawn didn't mention it being her favourite film. It was also really odd that, with all the movies in the entire world to pick from, supposedly sensitive Mary Anne tells a girl whose parents just got divorced that she wants to watch a movie about two kids getting their divorced parents back together.

[zoar3]

In the CG it says Verna and Bill raised MA for 18 months after her mom died. I had forgotten to look until seeing a new post in this section, sorry about that. If that is true, maybe Alma did pass away only couple months after MA's birth. If so, no wonder Richard was completely devastated!

Wanderingfrog, that sounds like yet another missed opportunity for Dawn to have displayed some hope of her parents getting back together. I would have also totally understood had Dawn asked to watch something else, in fact, maybe she really should have. Some books make it sound like the Sharon and Jack divorced in the Fall, while others imply closer to the end of the year. Regardless, you are so right, it just happened and especially with a new friend in a new place, I don't see why Dawn would want an instant reminder of that.

[supprazz]

Sept 2, 2012 18:48:58 GMT -5 sparklymouse said:

Maybe Richard could see into the future and wanted to be sure everyone knew Mary Anne really was a girl before she went and got that questionable haircut...

speaking of that, mary anne still had long hair in mary anne and the secret in the attic, but in mary anne's book when she went there, her hair was short in that picture of her with verna and alma's memory quilt

[Honeybee]

For my 10th birthday party. Their was like 8-10 kids. Some of them from school, couple from our apartment neighborhood. Then, my grandparents & my cousin. (Not sure, if all my cousins came or not.) It was suppose be a surprise birthday party. But the other kids didn't show up to end of the party. But, I still had fun.

I haven't had party since I was 13. Since only two people show up at my party.



I'm rereading this book. When Mary Anne describe, the one person meeting. That always cracks me up.

[Honeybee]

i forgot this had 16 chapters.

I have a question. When Mary Anne called 911. The 911 operator, if she can drive to the hospital. She said no. Then ask her, about the neighbors. In real life, do they actually ask the person, if they someone drive them to the hospital? (Like the child has high fever.)

[sparklymouse]

^It wasn't a 911 worthy emergency. The operator was probably trying to save her the couple hundred dollars it is to take an ambulance. I don't know what 911 operators would do with that situation in real life, if they would even stay on the line with Mary Anne or tell her to call a non-emergency line.

[Honeybee]

^ Oh okay. I was just wondering. Cause, I never had taken a four year old to ER for high fever.

[supprazz]

I'm sure Mary Anne may have sounded young (or maybe Stoneybrook only has 12-13 year old sitters!) and the operator sympathized with her given her age, trying to come up with a quick solution.