What doesn't kill you...

"Just remember," Mom said after examining the blisters, "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger."
"If that was true, I'd be Hercules by now," said Lori.                         - from The Glass Castle




Immediately after reading this line my mind started playing Kelly Clarkson's song, Stronger.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller  

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone  

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter  

Footsteps even lighter

Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone.  

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger  

Just me, Myself and I 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger  

Stand a little taller 

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone. 

I'm not alone

             


            The lyrics aren't about the same kind of situation as in the book, but it explains the same concept: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. My favorite part of this quote is Lori's response. Lori is a soft spoken girl and in this scene she just got a huge burn on her leg from an explosion in their house. She poured some kerosene on the fire because all they had was wet firewood and they needed a fire for warmth.


              All the things that these kids had to endure were amazing to me. They eat randomly. Sometimes they don't have any money for food, so they dig through the trash cans at school. The house they live in is rotting, it has no heat in the winter, and the toilet sits over a hole in the ground outside. In addition, they can't afford to pay the garbage man to collect the trash, so it sits in a huge hole outside their house. Their clothes barely ever get washed and they have to go to their grandparents in order to get a bath once a week.


              The conditions they face are so foreign to me. Never have I had to worry if we'd have heat in the summer or where I would get my next meal. Food has always been in the house, so I could have some whenever I wanted. I can shower every day or even twice a day if I wanted to and the water is always hot. I lot of the time I take these things for granted, but Jeannette never has. I am so thankful to God that I could be so fortunate - that I never have had worry about these things.



Lyrics from:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/stronger-lyrics-kelly-clarkson.html