D. Impacting Quote (Chapter 11-15) *

"She looked at him and smiled secretly. She was all secrets now she was pregnant, secrets and little silences that seemed to have meetings. She was pleased with herself, and she complained about things that didn't really matter. And she demanded services of Connie that were silly, and both of them knew they were silly. Connie was pleased with her too, and filled with wonder that she was pregnant. He liked to think he was in on the secrets she had. When she smiled slyly, he smiled slyly too, and they exchanged confidences in whispers. The world had drawn close around them, and that they were in the center of it, or rather Rose of Sharon was in the center of it with Connie making a small orbit about her. Everything they said was kind of a secret." (129)

It's quite amazing how Rose of Sharon and Connie can find happiness within each other, even in the direst of situations, such as the one they are in now. Through losing their home and all their material belongings, they have become even closer. They only need each other. Humans are weird that way. We can be barely surviving, but if we are surrounded by people we love, we'll think we're on top of the world and we don't need anything more.

When I read this quote, I remembered back to a class activity in which I was told to put a price on one of my most sentimental thing, a journal, to sell it. The journal has pictures and random stuff that has meaning to me. It's everything. Obviously, I priced it at $50,000. But to think of how Rose of Sharon and Connie had to leave everything behind, now that's crazy. I can't imagine that happening to me. But, at least, they have each other. If I were to leave every thing I owned behind but still keep my close friends and family with me, I'd think I'd be okay. I could create new memories. And maybe life would be better without all those material things anyways. The intangible parts of the life are the best parts of life.

Additionally, they're the perfect couple. They share secrets and are the centers of each others worlds. I was reading an article on Psychology Today titled Why We All Need to Belong to Someone and it reminded me of this quote. It's cute how Connie tries to belong to Rose of Sharon by thinking he is in on the secrets she has. And its cute how Rose of Sharon demands silly things of Connie. It shows how close they are and how well they belong together.