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Chapter 13
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Love, Aubrey, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Grief, Loss, and Healing
Love, Family, and Community
The Value of Routine
Forgiveness, Empathy, and Compassion
Summary
Analysis
One night, Gram makes a delicious dinner. Aubrey soon realizes there’s a reason for this when Gram tells her that she has something important to tell her: she’s going to take a trip for a couple days—to visit Mom. Uncle David will come stay with Aubrey. On Saturday, Uncle David arrives at Gram’s. On her way out, Gram asks if there’s anything Aubrey wants her to tell Mom. Aubrey says no, and Gram leaves.
Aubrey’s thought that Gram’s nice dinner is strategic—a way to mollify Aubrey before Gram announces her big news about visiting Mom—shows how suspicious and distrustful Aubrey has become of the adults in her life. She has gotten accustomed to adults either disappointing or destabilizing her. Even good things, like a delicious meal, are suspect.
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Uncle David and Aubrey head to a diner, and after the server takes their order, Aubrey asks Uncle David how Mom is doing. She wants to know why Mom hasn’t called Aubrey—and why no one will let Aubrey see Mom. Uncle David says Mom needs to get better first. That way, she can be the Mom Aubrey remembers from before the accident.
Though Aubrey has become wary of the adults in her life, she is still willing to ask adults she trusts for information and reassurance. Uncle David honors Aubrey’s trust by answering her question as honestly and gently as possible. He doesn’t sugarcoat Mom’s condition, but neither does he tell Aubrey anything that would cause her undue distress.
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After a while, Aubrey admits to Uncle David that she heard Mom leave. Uncle David is surprised and asks why Aubrey didn’t tell anyone. Aubrey says she didn’t know that Mom meant to leave forever. She assumed everything would be okay, and so she went back to sleep. Even after many hours had passed, she chose to ignore everything, not wanting to accept that she should be worried. Not only that, but she was mad at Mom for not being there for her like she used to be. Uncle David assures Aubrey that she has nothing to feel bad or guilty about.
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Aubrey asks Uncle David what Mom was like growing up. Uncle David says she was sweet and happy and loved attention, but she also liked sharing that attention with others. Aubrey thinks Mom sounds like how Savannah was. As Uncle David gets his money out to pay, he confesses that he knows why Aubrey asked about Mom: she wanted to know if there was some sign she could have picked up on, some way to predict Mom’s emotional collapse. He’s asked himself the same question. But, Uncle David says, there’s no way anyone could have known. The server returns with their food then, bringing the conversation to a pause.
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Later, Aubrey writes a letter to Jilly, telling her about Gram’s visit to Mom. Linda is staying with Mom for now, and everyone is making sure Mom gets outside at least a little bit each day.
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