I decided to take part in Book A Month Challenge (http://bamchallenge.wordpress.com/) to help me read more adult books instead of getting bogged down in reading all so much YA literature. You should check it out if you are so inclined.
This month’s challenge theme is “mother.” So, I had to pick a book where the mother is one of the major characters. Check out the site for more information.
So, here it goes:
“What would you do if you could spend 1 more day with a lost loved one?” That is what happens to Chick Benetto when he reaches his breaking point after losing everything and everyone he loves.
One day, Chick receives a letter from his daughter. The letter contains pictures from her wedding. There is no return address. How would that make you feel? For Chick, it was a slap in the face and he knew that now everything he lived for was gone. Would you stick around? Would you end it all?
Chick Benetto makes his decision after going on a 3 day bender. He drives to his home town and ends up in car crash where he is thrown from his car. However, Chick gets up. He walks to his childhood home. He walks in. There is food in the fridge and dishes in the sink. He sits at the dining room table. He hears footsteps. He looks up and there she is – Mom.
The rest of the story follows Chick as he spends a day helping out his mom. He finds out things he never knew about it. He finds out things about his father. They both get to say the things they did not get to say before.
“for one more day” is a touching story, retold by Chick’s daughter, who just like Chick was estranged from her parent. It made me re-evaluate my relationship with my mom and also my relationship with my dad. Parent/child relationships are always a bit difficult to navigate. Sometimes you are so similar, it is difficult to get along (my mom and I) and sometimes there is just not that much communication (my dad and I) and sometimes it just is not there. This book just illustrates what can happen when a person knows themselves, knows the truth about things and also is honest with their parents. Some relationships are not meant to be reconciled but when they can be, especially if it’s with a parent, then why not try. Plus, I do not think we can ever really understand our parents until we are parents ourselves.
Highly recommended. I feel like I am making it sound sappy than it is. It is not so don’t be fooled by what I wrote. On a side note, I also liked how Chick is a baseball player and played in the World Series. And I’m not a parent but I do know that my folks sacrificed a whole lot to get us to America and to put us through school…
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