Mary Anne's Portrait

[Deleted]

I always thought it was strange the Richard sent Mary Anne off to grandparents. I know that he was still dealing with the grief of losing his wife, but Mary Anne was gone for a while. It would've made more sense for her grandparents to come to Stoneybrook or Richard and Mary Anne go to them.

[zoar3]

^Wow, what an interesting idea, Bscforever. The only thing I can think of is (at that time) the Baker's farm may have required daily chores/care of animals that Bill and Verna couldn't leave behind? They could have leased out the land or hired some temporarily assitance while they and Richard made plans for the future. I'm not sure, other than maybe a young career or extreme grief why Richard couldn't have moved to Iowa with MA. I just find it hard to believe that he really didn't see his own daughter for a year. He didn't, right?

[oldhickory]

i can't say for sure because i'm not a parent, but this is my opinion. when you love somebody as much as richard loved alma, losing her would have been devastating. even though he loved MA too, seeing her must have been a constant reminder of alma -- we are told several times how much she looks like her mother and in general takes after her. of course she's still just a baby at this point, but there's no way he could be around her without remembering alma. not only would it have been painful just trying to get his life together after losing the love of his life, but MA was completely dependent on him. he had to be strong enough to care for both of them. in those circumstances i don't blame richard for needing some time off. even if he had wanted to, he wasn't in the frame of mind to be a good father and honestly, the best thing he could have done for MA was make sure she was taken care of. that's what being a parent is all about.

[zoar3]

^I'm clapping for your post Oldhickory. Aww, very sweet and well said. Exactly a big part of why Richard rocks. I guess to me it was the entire year, possibly more without seeing MA that seemed a little odd but maybe not. I love that he fought to get her back but I wonder despite her only being 1 1/2-2, if she missed her grandparents at all? If she even remembered them. I know she was younger than Emily, but as we know Emily always "remembered" Nannie. I think after a few years as Bill and Verna got older they could have contemplated a move to Stoneybrook. Do we know why Alma came to CT? I don't think she grew up there, so maybe for college?

[anzuhana]

^ Mary Anne didn't miss her grandparents because she didn't remember them. She pretty much couldn't remember them since a person begins to remember things from when they are two and a half years old.

[zoar3]

^I agree with that it just that they were her whole world. So whether she really "knew" them or not, she still probably had a sense that to her they were mom and dad.

[oldhickory]

didn't alma go to school in vermont or something? i remember MA says where, when they were looking through the yearbooks. but maybe she and richard settled down in stoneybrook because that's where he was from.

[booboobrewer]

In #4 Mary Anne says her mom grew up in Maryland...Abigail/Maryland turned into Alma/Iowa later. We never learn how she and Richard meet.

[zoar3]

^I wish we had learned how they met and heard some of their happier early year stories. I hope they had at least a few positive times together before cancer. I still have yet to find the "Abigail." "Maryland, yes" along with later on Nebraska but Abigail, no. I do have the original cover of this book. Do you know what page its on BooBoo? Sort of related, I've also never seen where Lisa and Seth were named I think someone and Kendall.

[booboobrewer]

Don't know the page, but I know it's chapter two when Mary Anne makes dinner for them and Richard says grace.

[zoar3]

Thanks, BooBoo. I just checked and maybe the error was in a different edition? At the very bottom of Page 16, before Richard says "Amen, he asked God to watch over Alma." MA goes onto say that "Alma is my mother."

[anzuhana]

^ I'm pretty sure the mistakes were in the original books but when the books were re-released with new covers, the mistakes were fixed.

[booboobrewer]

Yeah, it's an inconsistency now, like Edie/Elizabeth.

[zoar3]

I do have the original book. Or maybe it's an inconsistency like 2 John Ramsey brothers? Still lol-ing at the thought that each of them had a son with that name.

[supprazz]

oldhickory and zoar: I totally agree with your posts. It's better Richard did that than deprive a baby of her physical and emotional needs when he was not capable of providing them or possibly taking care of himself well. As for why it was for a year, most say the first year in grieving someone is the hardest and I can say this from experience myself, so that can be the reason why. Plus Mary Anne didn't consciously remember her grandparents, but her subconscious did, which is why she was having the dreams in Mystery #5.