“No, it was the fear in Dad’s voice that got to me. Over the course of my life, Dad had shown himself to be many things, but afraid was never one of them.”

Due to Maddie’s father’s Parkinson’s disease, their roles are reversing. Maddie once relied on her father to be the leader of the family, but now she must be. She looks after her father as he once did her. This role reversal brought on by illness and age is stressful for her, as seeing her father afraid feels wrong.

“I almost tell her that fun doesn’t equate to happiness; at the very least, it lends you happiness and I want to know how to keep it.”

Maddie and her mother have different views of what happiness is. Maddie’s mother is concerned about her staying at home with her father, as she feels a young woman should be out socializing. For Maddie, fun is fleeting—but for her mother, who wasn’t able to have fun as an immigrant acclimating to a new country and culture, the privilege of fun is in itself happiness. This quote emphasizes the generational divide between Maddie and her mother.

“For Mum, work-related happiness is directly proportional to how much you earn. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that although I didn’t think I’d be rich, I expected to be happy and the failure to do so has left me gasping for air most of the day.”

Another generational divide between Maddie and her mother is their connection (or lack thereof) between happiness and career. For Maddie’s mother, financial stability is true happiness. However, Maddie has the mindset that making money isn’t as meaningful to happiness as doing something one loves or takes pride in. The problem is, Maddie hasn’t found this kind of passion, nor does she make a sustainable amount of money.