Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott

Author:Mary Laura Philpott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2022-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

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I heard actress Charlize Theron tell Terry Gross on NPR about a violent incident in her childhood, the time when her mother shot and killed her father in an act of self-defense. He had come home drunk and was shooting at his wife and daughter through a closed door, behind which they’d barricaded themselves. Theron spoke of her father’s death with sadness and resignation—she wished it hadn’t had to happen—but she didn’t blame her mother. In fact, she described her mother’s actions with calm admiration. “She ended the threat,” Theron said.

I want to end the threat.

But I can’t.

If I could, I would end all the threats.

Listening to that interview, I thought about parents who have had to kill for their children, and what a god-awful trade that is. They probably didn’t start out in life thinking they’d have to kill somebody one day. They might never have touched another living thing in anger. They might faint at the sight of blood. They might believe thou shalt not kill and if thou does, thou is going to hell. But when the moment comes, they will do what costs them their very soul, because that’s how much their love is worth.

Anything less than that ought to be pretty easy.

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