rwhelmed with the death of their family member.The family of Henry and his mother and father were devastated from the death of Eddie, the oldest son. When Henry’s brother died of pneumonia his father sinks into depression, forcing Henry to take a job at a local grocery store. Henry’s mother was forced to take two jobs in order to support the family because Henry’s father was in a deep depression and could not work. When a close one passes away you are left with memories. These memories were too painful for the family so instead of trying to deal with the memories the family fled to a larger city twenty miles away, Wickburg. More often than not, when you run from a problem it only makes things worse. This was the case when Henry’s family moved to Wickburg. Henry had trouble with the move because he was “homesick for the people and streets of Frenchtown in Monument”(6,7). Also Henry’s parents would have been better off in their hometown where friends could give them support. Henry remembers every detail about his brother Eddie. When thinking back about what happened to Eddie, Henry explains, “He died…sprawled in the gutter of First Street in Frenchtown, his neck broken like a chicken bone snapped apart to make a wish. The car that had struck him sped away and was never seen again”(8). Since Henry has these vivid memories in his head he continually thinks of Eddie as just a dead brother and not for what kind of person he really was when he was still with the family. This is very tough on Henry because he isn’t old enough to understand how final death is. “Sometimes Henry felt guilty because he could go, oh, three of four hours without thinking of Eddie, but his mother and father seemed to be thinking of him every minute of the day”(2,3). When you are haven’t witnessed the loss of someone special as much as an older person, you might not und...
