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bean tree essay



                                                                                                                   Patricia Gonzalez
                                                                                                    August 27, 2003

If you thought being a single parent was hard, well Taylor Greer received a two year old girl while heading west on the road. There were a lot of difficulties but she overcame all difficulties in life with the advice of her friend Lou Ann Ruiz. Their friendship helped them overcome lots of difficulties in their difficult lives. Lou Ann and Taylor were very good friends because they knew how to give and take in their friendship. They had different lifestyles that helped each other. They gave and took in their friendship by helping each other when one was at work. Their give and take friendship was not only physically was mentally also. Lou Ann and Taylor had the solution to each others problems. 
       
Lou Ann and Taylor were two women with very different ways of life in every way but at the same time knew how to get along. Lou Ann was a married woman and pregnant at the time her marriage was not working out, on the other hand Taylor was never married and her child was given to her. Lou Ann faced family problems “. . . Angel had already been home from work and had left again, for good” (pg.43). Lou Ann had to deal with the abandonment of her husband and raise her child by herself. Taylor had to raise a child that was not hers, the child was given to her and she had to raise her, with good standards when she had no clue of what to do. “Take this baby” (pg.23) this was what the woman who gave Taylor Turtle said. Taylor did not know how to react and maybe didn’t decide to but had to take responsibility for this baby. If it wasn’t for Lou Ann Taylor would have never kept Turtle, the baby would probably be with child services. These two friends played an important role in each other lives.
Taylor and Lou Ann‘s friendship was a give and take friendship, they helped each other with house chores. “Lou Ann ladled soup out of the big pot on the stove and brought bowls over the table.”(pg.112). Since Lou Ann was not working she would take care of the kids and cook dinner so when Taylor came home she would have something to eat. This was generous of Lou Ann to cook for her like a family which Taylor did not want to accept. “Most of the time I fed the kids and put them to bed before Lou Ann came home at eleven.”(pg.205). When Lou Ann started to work afternoons Taylor had to take care of the kids.  When Taylor worked Lou Ann would take charge and when Lou Ann would work Taylor would take care of the kids. They not only helped each other physically but mentally also.
Lou Ann and Taylor give and take in their friendship not only by material things but with advice also. “But I was ready to give in, what else can I do? How can I fight the law? . . . . I cannot believe you’re just ready to roll over and play dead about this Taylor.”(pg.235). Lou Ann kept insisting that Taylor do something so Turtle would not get taken away from her. Due to Lou Ann’s insistency Taylor thought twice and ended up getting Turtle to be her daughter. “Some one time when I was working in this motel one of the toilets leaked and had to replace the flapper ball. Here comes it said on the Package; I kept it till I knew it by heart. ‘Please note: parts are included for all installations, but no installation requires all of the parts.’ That’s kind of my philosophy about men. I don’t think there is an installation that could use all my parts.” (pg.118) Taylor’s Philosophy about men made Lou Ann realize she was not the blame for her marriage not working out. Taylor also contributed to Lou Ann not going back to live with Angel. Helping each other make decisions by giving advice instead of telling each other what to do is the best they could do to have a good friendship. 
In conclusion Lou Ann and Taylor’s friendship can be described as loving and caring. They were a family that had a difficult life and they didn’t let difficulties get to them. Their friendship was a give and take, when one would give the other would always take even if they were not sure, because in the end it was the best for them. They were different. They would help each other physically, they would help each other out mentally and in every way that they could. Life for both of these mothers was not easy but together they showed they could do whatever they wished to do.  


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