“I wondered whether the life that was right for one was ever right for two!”
That’s a quote from My Antonia, which I’ve just finished reading.
Isn’t it true?
It is.
Some people, for example, choose a simple life, feeling happier and more secure in small cities. But, others prefer the busy life in big cities where there are more people, more opportunities, and more entertainment.
Can these two groups swap places?
Maybe.
But things depend on the urge and the necessity behind the change. In other words, change happens for a reason. You don’t just wake up in the morning and decide to leave your house and move to the mountains… or do you?
Now imagine how destiny might bring together two people with different life preferences. What do you think their life would be?
In the story, Antonia’s parents have this acute different preferences, not just about places but about many things. Her father left their homeland, taking his wife and four children to the new land. If it hadn’t been for his nagging wife, he might have never left, would’t have never sold the precious and the worthless to embark on this journey. He couldn’t adapt to prairie life, and his wife never stopped complaining. Then, one day he took his own life. (Oh, the poor man he might have shot himself twice, especially now, when laws are changing.)
But Antonia managed to find a balance, and to help her city -loving husband adapt to prairie life though not quite as much as she did, but enough. And, at least, he never reached the desperate limits her father had.
Now can the life that was right for one ever be right for two?
Yes.
When there’s love, understanding, and a sense of belonging everything becomes possible.
By the way My Antonia is just about Antonia.
With hope and peace,
Nahla
Pure and Simple 