Character Analysis: One Day In December By Josie Silver

The first instinct might be to blame yourself, or to lock yourself away to wallow on your own time. Grieving a loved one can take form in many ways. One Day in December by Josie Silver is about a young woman named Laurie who falls in love with a boy she glimpses at a bus stop. She searched for the mystery boy for over a year until one day her best friend, Sarah, introduces the boy she had been searching for as her new boyfriend at a Christmas party. The boy, Jack, remains in Laurie's life for the next ten years throughout the book, and their story’s intertwine, until they come together at last in the end. But over these ten years, readers live with Laurie through troubled times of her life and learn of Lauries past hardships. Josie Silver brings

It affects how she thinks day to day and how she perceives her relationships. In this portion of the text, Laurie thinks of how Ginny’s memory effects her, and much she allows herself to think about her death, “ I don’t allow myself to think of Ginny often in day to day life, or at all really; it takes me a long time afterward to reconcile the fact she just isn’t here anymore, to not be furious with everyone else to be breathing when she isn’t.” (Silver, 69) This explains deeper into Lauries process of grief and how she has to push herself past her sister's death in order to complete the tasks she has too. Ginny’s death will be something that can affect Laurie for the rest of her life, and teaches readers that when a loved one passes, it’s normal to continue your grieving period to last as long as it needs to. One night Laurie confides in Jack over her sister’s passing and speaks of her family's grief, “‘I don’t think any of us have ever got over losing her. My poor mom and dad…” (Silver, 67) Laurie confirms that the grief that never leaves her mind, never leaves her families either. Readers are able to get an inside look on how the death of their family member is something that continues to weigh on their hearts, and not necessarily something you get over. Death is a struggle for families everywhere, and One Day in December highlights how long lasting grief can be, and how that affects