Chapter 7 - Failing Up

[Stephanie]

Please post your comments and questions about Chapter 7 in this thread.

[Tarri]

I love "failing up" and found the way Dear Amy came into being very interesting.  When she told the Washington bureau chief that she had to turn down the job because she had another job (raising a person) I knew that he would be calling her with a great opportunity. 

 It was also very interesting to learn how September 11, 2001 changed the other people's futures.  The trip to the grocery store to stock up on the essentials (Twizzlers and diet pop) is something we all did, although I did buy some spaghetti-os too. 

[Peppermill]

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Tarri wrote:

I love "failing up" and found the way Dear Amy came into being very interesting.  When she told the Washington bureau chief that she had to turn down the job because she had another job (raising a person) I knew that he would be calling her with a great opportunity. 

 It was also very interesting to learn how September 11, 2001 changed the other people's futures.  The trip to the grocery store to stock up on the essentials (Twizzlers and diet pop) is something we all did, although I did buy some spaghetti-os too.  {Emphasis added.}

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[dege]

I loved the whole concept of "failing up". It's funny how better opportunities in life have a way of finding you and putting a stop to the second guessing about whether or not the right decision was made.

[gl]

I love the idea of failing up, too!  There are moments when you feel that life is conspiring in your favor and she captures this with such humor.   There were so many other parts to this chapter that I appreciated: (1) the way that she acknowledged the people who trusted her, mentored her,  and helped her career and life grow, (2) how she discovered that she was in the perfect position to offer advice to others ("It's not that I'm a natural at giving advice, in fact, I couldn't think that I'd ever been asked my opinion on a personal dilemma, but as the plankton at the end of my family's food chain, I have been on the receiving end of plenty of advice (all of it unsolicited).  I thought of my mother and her three older sisters and my own two older sisters. In my family, the advice flows downward, and I'm at the bottom of the hill holding a bucket."), and (3) her essential truth about garbage bags and packing and how "Anything put in a garbage bag, no matter how precious, has a way of becoming garbage once it's in a bag.(p. 139)

[bookloverjb85]

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gl wrote:

...her essential truth about garbage bags and packing and how "Anything put in a garbage bag, no matter how precious, has a way of becoming garbage once it's in a bag.(p. 139)

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I agree with the garbage bags statement.  I have moved twice and things were put into garbage bags that I still haven't opened and I have been in my house for two years now.

I also like this chapter because I love when Amy says that her other job is raising a person.  It's true though, raising a person is another job entirely.

[Peppermill]

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bookloverjb85 wrote:

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gl wrote:

...her essential truth about garbage bags and packing and how "Anything put in a garbage bag, no matter how precious, has a way of becoming garbage once it's in a bag.(p. 139)

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I agree with the garbage bags statement.  I have moved twice and things were put into garbage bags that I still haven't opened and I have been in my house for two years now.

I also like this chapter because I love when Amy says that her other job is raising a person.  It's true though, raising a person is another job entirely.

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When our son was three months old, we returned to the Midwest for his baptism in my hometown church.  My husband packed each day of baby's clothes and diapers in a garbage bag.  It was a little embarrassing if we had to go through a hotel lobby for our room at night, but most nights were motels and his method worked wonderfully well!  (He did have very good skills at packing a car for get-aways!)

[Stephanie]

One of the things I love about Amy's memoir is that it pulls our stories out of us.  I've really enjoyed reading your posts for this chapter, and of the times in your lives that Amy's story caused you to remember and share here. 

[m3girl]

I really enjoyed that whole idea of failing up.  How clever!  Another fun and interesting chapter that made me smile and chuckle.  As a resident of the lovely city of Chicago I do hope that the years Amy and Emily have spent there so far have been fun.  I look forward to book signings when the book is published and will be there in line to have my ARC signed...I am really enjoying this group of stories.

I do have a question about the cat and the chronology of the chapters...I thought she drove up from DC to Cornel and Freeville with Pumpkin - that would have been difficult if Pumpkin moved with them to Chicago, right...

Susan