Problems, Choices, and Solutions.

  Children only realize how hard it is to take care of someone, when they experience it themselves. Not all teens are living at home with a family that loves and takes care of them. In the story, "The impossible knife of memory", the main character Haley discovers the maturity that is needed to be responsible for another person. Her father, Andy is incapable of controlling himself so he struggles to take care of his seventeen year old daughter. After Andy served his time in the army, he was never the same again. He has intense nightmares and can't fall asleep. Andy only feels comfort in drugs and alcohol. This shows why Andy's battles with temptation and depression help the readers realize that not all stories have a happy ending.

Even though the characters face many challenges, Andy repeatedly makes wrong choices that are affecting not only his life, but Haley's too. It may not seem like it but Andy has seen doctors who gave him prescriptions to abolish the nightmares and fears of his past. My jaw dropped when the author revealed that Andy just threw away the doctors prescriptions. This shows that his problems are his responsibility, there is a cure for his madness and throwing that cure away proves that Andy doesn't want to get better for his daughter. I wasn't surprised when the blurb stated, "They moved back to Andy's hometown to try a normal life, but the horrors he saw in the war threaten to destroy their lives." Haley gives all she has to her father, all her trust, faith and love into a man full of empty promises. She thinks Andy is something he is not. I sometimes wonder why Haley still stays with her father. She is afraid that she will lose the only family she has left. Haley has lost everyone she has ever loved, except her father. This means a lot to Haley. She can't loose her father too.
 
 In conclusion, family comes in many shapes and sizes. Not everyone is fit to be a parent, and not every kid understands how complicated parenting can be. This is why Haley is a very special girl, who will never give up on her father no matter what the consequences.