In Between Places

In her essay In between places, Mary Kate Frank, described the pain of returning home as an adult to live with your parents. It is common for people to move in with thier parents to "get back on their feet," but in Mary's case, it seems that her stay at "the nest" was prolonged, and quite unexplainable. Even in the shackles of debt, Mary made bad financial decisions and purchased things that just set her back further. Mary's tendancy to make these decisions was evidence that Mary was for some reason, not trying very hard to make it on her own. As much as Mary began to dread living at home, the comfort that her family provided her was something that she could not let go. Mary had no privacy, very little social life, and a complete lack of initiative. Even after Mary payed off the debt that she owed to her parents, there was an underlying force that was holding her back from stepping back out into the real world.

There were obviously key factors that led to Mary's return home. First of all and most obvious, her hasty financial decisions led her to debt. However, at one point in Mary's life, when she worked as a journalist, she was doing fine. Journalism brought much depression to Mary though; after a while, Mary could just not tolerate the harsh reality of the cruel world that she had to report. The world was just too overwhelming for Mary in general; she did not have the maturity to handle the harsh reality and truths of life on her own. Having her parents there to comfort herwas something that Mary could not give up once she returned home. Although she made no effort in her essay to speak of emotions between her and her parents, her need for thier affection and the "comfort zone" they provided were things that Mary did not want to imagine giving up.

I think that sometimes, home is the best place to be when times are tough. However, we cannot rely always on our parents because, as God intended, most of us will have our own families and have children of our own. Naturally, most of us will outlive our parents and it is our responsibility to learn to be strong and live on our own. A person that has everything handed to them by thier parents will never know what it is like to live a respectable life. I can understand that Mary was in dire need to return home, but she was also in need of motivation and strength to overcome the tribulations of daily life. The cruel reality of life is that it is a long hard rode, and sometimes we just have to walk it alone. Our parents "happy home" will not always be there for us to return to; not everyone has such a safety net to fall back on.

1. Is it possible that some adults develop a disorder that makes them believe they cannot survive away from home?

2. Would you be embarassed if you were forced to live at home for a while after school?
Would it make you feel like less of a man/woman?