a promise of everything the day ahead might hold

~ Live & Learn

Becky that morning had awakened before dawn… She lay in the dark and listened to the tick and wheeze of the radiator, the struggling clank of pipes below. As if for the first time, she appreciated the goodness of being snug in a house on a cold morning. Also, no less, the goodness of the cold, which made the snugness possible; the two things fit together like a pair of mouths…

When the alarm clock went off in her parents’ bedroom, one door over from hers, it wasn’t the usual cruel morning sound but a promise of everything the day ahead might hold. When she heard the faint buzz of her father’s shaver and the footsteps of her mother in the hallway, she was amazed she’d never noticed, until today, how precious ordinary life was and how lucky she was to be a part of it. So much goodness. Other people were good. She herself was good. She felt goodwill to all mankind.

— Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 5, 2021)

22 thoughts on “a promise of everything the day ahead might hold”

  10. I love Jonathan Frazen’s writing…Becky’s dawning growth of reality an epiphany…appreciation arose, autonomy of self & independent thought emerged within…the comfort and protection of shelter, the security of Love of Family constant…she immersed her thoughts towards the Joy of Possibilities that has always been in front of her…she now cherishes and knows that Each Breath is a Gift… 

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