part of the body enters the world of single parents, how they cope with life in order to reach true happiness. Guccione begins by showing her research of how happy families posses a mutual thread; “the ability to maintain the balance between individual freedom and the need people have to belong to a group.” She also encourages families to help each individual member reach their own potential.Guccione then tells the tale of Marie, a single mother raising her two boys, aged 11 and 13. Since her divorce, Marie was living in a world of rejection and it took a while before she managed to cope and negotiate with the difficulties she was living. With support from close friends and her mother, Marie developed the ability to make the best of the situation and be happy. Her children still maintain a relationship with their father and live happily with their mother. The final section prepares the reader for a written analysis of families and the second marriage. This time, Guccione writes about Jenine, a woman now in her second marriage. Her story begins with the negative pitfall of the remarriage. Jenine learned to accept her husbands past and to not be intimidated by it. She coped and negotiated with the situation, accepting her husbands two daughters and respecting their unconditional love for their mother. Guccione concludes by sharing Jenine’s realization living her new life “without anguish or divided loyalties.”The conclusion is a reminder of the point Guccione made throughout the entire essay; the importance of negotiating and coping. Guccione emphasizes her belief that “a normal family approach begins by recognizing that every human being has problems in living.” She than continues by stating that: “ every person and every family has strength wich they can use to cope with difficulties”, and that task is very important for achieving this, as happiness is something that is e...
