Memory is a great way to relive the past. In Laurel’s case it was all she had now. Holding onto memories can sometimes cause friction in what is reality. When Laurel was summons to help with her father, Judge McKelva, during his retina surgery she had no idea her “memories” were going to be forever changed. The death of her father and the rather brash second wife Fay caused Laurel to face things from her past memories that she never thought about before. Becky, Laurel’s mom, had been deceased twelve years when Laurel’s made her way to New Orleans to see a Dr. for her father with his diminishing eyesight. The prognosis sent Laurel’s life and that of her father’s in a tailspin. The Judge had a detached retina, which wasn’t an easy …show more content…
He had to be held down with sandbags to ensure he would not move so the retina would heal properly. Laurel would read to him every day. It was hard for her to see her father laying there almost emotionless. Fay had an even harder time with his recovery. She thought that he wasn’t fighting
hard enough. One evening on the night of her birthday Fay had enough and shook the Judge to his death. Laurel feels she will never be able to forgive Fay for her actions. The death of her father led Laurel to come to terms with a lot from her past. She was a widow, her husband had been killed in WWII, she was still mourning his death when her father died and then dealing with the fact that her “stepmom” was a woman of questionable standards, made Laurel crazy inside. Laurel thought about her mom and the memories she made with her before her death, and for the first time she wondered why her father was in none of those memories. After the funeral it was known that Fay was left the house. The house that Laurel had grown up in, that all her memories stemmed from. At first Laurel was ok with Fay having the house; she was going back to Illinois where she had been living and learns to forget about