Friendship is a very important relationship between people. Everyone has friends, and we don’t get along with them in the same way. Some like glue, all day frequent communication; Others are plain, just stepping up when needed most. But no matter what, it is always lucky to have a sincere friendship, especially between women.
The book I want to share with you today is about the friendship between two women. It is Firefly Lane, a masterpiece by American writer Christine Hanna. The story takes place in a place where there are no fireflies but people call it “firefly Alley”. Here, two girls as young as 14 began their decades-long friendship from the Seventies to the millennium.
Romain Rolland said, who in the world has met a friendly heart, experienced the realm of the liver and the heart, is to taste the joy of heaven and earth. With a friend, life shows its full value.
Next, let’s experience the kind of precious friendship that says, “I need you,” and good friends are always there.
Let’s start with the two protagonists of the story.
Tali, beautiful, stylish, chic, family advantaged, and free access. At school she was the kind of girl everyone admired and admired. But who do not know, in her bright and beautiful appearance hidden is a great sadness and loneliness. All of her cool, chic performance is because of the inner desire can not be satisfied, the expression of rebellion and catharsis.
Katie, about her loving parents, warm family, mom and dad love her, but after all, family affection can not replace friendship, not to mention there will be so many constraints and restrictions caused by love in the family, all of which make her into indescribable loneliness without friendship.
At 14, they’re in the middle of puberty. One longs for the love of family because of the lack of love since childhood, while the other longs for the wide world of freedom under the bondage of family love. Therefore, their meeting is natural and warm, bring each other too many surprises. Their friendship is the beginning of the “I need you” moment.
At night, when everyone was asleep, the two girls would sneak out. They let go of their hands on the summer hill, laughing all the way, letting the bikes hurtle down the high ramp, and when they felt themselves flying, the bikes hit a rock, their bodies did fly, and they both landed in the ditch beside the road…
The friendship between the two girls was forged through each other’s need, help and encouragement. In that firefly alley, the stars are very bright at night. Sometimes when I look at the sky, I feel that the stars are flying around like fireflies. Whether it is the faint glow of fireflies or the shining stars in the night sky, at this time, both children are satisfied with the warmth and hope in their hearts. The bright stars in the sky, the hope like fireflies, lit up the dark corners of their hearts, and the friendship between each other is more romantic and thrilling.
It is not difficult to see that Katie and Tali are completely different from each other in terms of family origin, surrounding environment, temperament and habits, but they have one thing in common, that is the need for love and friendship. In this world, you really need a person who knows himself. They found — they found their alter egos.
Their friendships are with them as they grow up, through adolescence, love, marriage, children, career choices, the trivialities and difficulties of life, and so on. In this process, Katie brings “love” to Tali, so that she knows how to give, feel the feeling of “home”, love between relatives; And Tali enriched Katie’s life, opening her world to possibilities and seeing all the wonders of life.
Yes, the other me. We all have an opposite side of ourselves that is masked by our particular disposition, and this side is difficult to bring out unless we find the right outlet. The people who help us in this regard are destined to have a deep fate with us in life, and not everyone can meet. So Katie and Tali were lucky that, although they had to be separated soon after their friendship had been established because of Tali’s mother, that friendship had not been weakened by the expansion of space.
I feel that there is a kind of serendipitous chance between them that the other self can deal with all kinds of barriers and obstacles once it emerges. Over the decades, they have not been free from conflict, jealousy, hatred and hurt, but as long as there is love, these natural expressions of human nature will not affect their friendship, but it is these emotional agitation episodes that make them sincere and open to each other.
In fact, people, especially between women, get along for a long time, there will inevitably be a lot of discord, friction, the key to see how we balance these trivial contradictions and estrangement. No one is perfect, not to mention the fact that there is always some concern for personal gain, but if we can meet the heart of mutual love, we must not let down.
Just as the book between the two protagonists, each other’s mutual understanding is how enviable. Although the ending is sad and sad. Katie had gone, leaving her lover and child in the care of Tali, but from another perspective, they would never, ever be apart.
From their friendship, we can find our own shadow, we can learn how to get along with friends, and their friendship can be a beacon for countless people in confused relationships. May you and I be as lucky as they are to find another self, not another half, but another self, to face the hardships and joys of life in each other’s company.
Firefly Alley, with its female protagonists and their decades-long lives, deals with the dilemma faced by modern women: family and career.
Women put family first, it seems, for thousands of years. Christine Hanna, on the other hand, clearly shows us the roles of career woman and housewife through her characters in this book. How modern women find a balance between career and family has always been a concern.
Everyone knows that today’s women face too much pressure, heavy work and busy motherhood, and even the prestige and responsibility of being a housewife. I have seen too many articles and comments about this, but it is only about how women face different responsibilities and choices, as well as about these men’s awareness, consciousness and other issues. No matter how hard they try, women feel like they can’t do it all, and they really can.
Kitty’s whole life, like her mother, was devoted to her family, and she died of cancer. Although she had a loving husband, children and devoted friends, she could not stay with them for long. And Tali, she ascended to the peak of the career, enjoy the dazzling halo around, but only from friends to get home and loved ones. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Anyway, the stories in books come from life, and busy people in life often can’t understand the real meaning of life, but need to understand some truth and essence in books and stories. Therefore, we balance our choice and positioning in life through the joys and sorrows of other people’s lives.
That’s the only thing that makes a good work a good work. So, for that alone, we thank Christine Hanna.
