Falling Over Sideways

Out of the Cradle is Claire’s favorite of her father’s books. Her favorite quote speaks about finding renewed love and connection in others. On the morning of her father’s discharge from the hospital, Claire wonders if he will ever be able to write or understand a concept like this again. More than her father’s lack of cognitive skills, Claire worries about how her father (and the family) will manage at home without all the doctors at the hospital. Her father has a laundry list of things he can’t eat and medicines he must take, and he’s practically immobile.

When the family gets home, Claire can’t imagine how her father will cope: They have a tri-level house, a basement with stairs, and even if they put her father in the living room, the bathroom on that floor has no shower. Moreover, Claire uses the living room to practice and can’t imagine having her father living there when people come over. All this changes when she actually sees that “Our whole house had been messed up” (105), with the changes made to accommodate her father. Though she and Matthew want to complain about the ramps and accessibility devices put in while they were away, her mother quickly quiets them both with a look of scorn.