Who do you think you are? (pgs 54-99)

Summary
Alyse's father is sick. Alyse accidentally walks on her father while he is using the bathroom and finds something red sticking out of his stomach. Her father yells and tells her to get out of the bathroom, and she asks her mom what happened to her dad. Her mom explains to her that her father had surgery and that he has to use the bathroom in a bag. Her father is constantly going in and out of the hospital because he is so sick, and despite how ill he is, Alyse's mom is still yelling at him. She kept on talking about his "girlfriend", and whenever he asked her to do something she said that his "girlfriend" could do it for him. Alyse finally realizes who this woman is when she goes to one of her father's doctor appointments and meets the nurse that takes care of him. One day Alyse comes home from school and her sisters tell her that their father died, and she didn't believe it until she saw everyone gathered around his bed, and she started crying. Alyse and her family went to his funeral except her sisters because her mom said that they were too young to understand what was going on. On the day of his funeral, Alyse's mom gives her her father's favorite necklace and says that he would've wanted her to have it. So she wears it that day, but after the funeral she puts it in her drawer and says that she never wore it again. Alyse's mom got a job and now the kids were going to be home alone more often. Alyse is told not to use the stove while her mom isn't home. However, she was hungry and really wanted a hamburger so instead of using the stove she uses the toaster, which eventually starts a minor fire. Alyse poors water on the toaster and unplugs it. When her mother gets home at first she is mad because she sees the toaster has been messed up. But then she asks Alyse how she knew to unplug it, and Alyse just said that she simply knew. Alyse's mom says that she's a smart girl for that. This was a significant moment because this was the first compliment Alyse can recall her mom giving her.

Quote
"When she wasn't around, I would go through my father's closet and his drawers and touch his clothes and remember what he looked like when he wore them. They still smelled just like him."(Myers, 86)

Reaction
This is part of her grieving process. You can tell that she misses her father just by going through his clothes, smelling them, and remembering how he looked when he wore them. It made me feel so sad for her because you can tell that she really misses her father. She even goes on further to say that she would write in the red journal he gave her and write about how much she missed him. She also said that she would go through his clothes when her mother was NOT around, and I can't help but think that her mom would get mad if she saw her going through his clothes. I like how the author says she would touch his clothes and remember what he looked like in them. Its as if when she touches the clothes all these memories of her dad wearing them suddenly come to mind. When she smells them, they still smell just like him, as if he's still alive to her. After this quote she says that she would also write in her red diary about why she hated her mom, and one of these reasons is because she got rid of all of her father's clothes. Its sad that her mother took away what seemed to be Alyse's favorite connection left to her father. She feels so lonely now because her father was her only close companion, and now she feels like she has no one else to turn to.