Mrs. Everything

On the drive to the hospital, Bethie and Harold try to discuss what Lila was implying about Lester at the publishing house. Lila doesn’t open up at first, until Bethie reminds her about her past. Since Lila is aware of Bethie’s rape, she explains that Lester took special interest in her. He’d ask about her boyfriend, personal tastes, and her “everyday” opinion, since he could tell she wasn’t a reader or writer like the others. He’d touch her for too long, grabbing her breast sometimes. One night after work, Lester cornered her in a bar and kissed her, but Lila pushed him off. Bethie offers sympathy and insists she tell Missy. Lila doesn’t want to get Missy in trouble, adding that her sister thinks Lester is a god and won’t believe her anyway.

At the hospital, Lila is treated for her sprained ankle. Jo and Shelley arrive with dessert leftovers for Bethie and Harold. Bethie discusses Lila’s story with Jo, who isn’t sure what to believe, since Lila tends to exaggerate, but Lester is about 70 years old, so she wants to trust her daughter. Bethie and Harold ask when Jo will tell everyone about her cancer just as Lila returns on crutches; Jo wants to delay her announcement, but Shelley pushes her to reveal it. Lila reacts sympathetically about the cancer and hugs her mom.

During her second round with breast cancer, Jo decides to forgo treatment. Ten years after her first cancer experience with a mastectomy, she doesn’t want to go through the pain again. Shelley had argued with her, but Jo didn’t back down. Now, they’re on a plane to Atlanta to visit Bethie and hopefully her girls, as Bethie converted Blue Hill Farm into a bed-and-breakfast, renting out the house for her family and planning Jo’s nursing care.

In Atlanta, Jo is set up with hospice care. She’s excited to watch Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, chatting about living to see this day with Bethie and Shelley. Kim arrives first and sees her mom with no hair and looking weak. Teenage Flora and Leonie are behind her. Jo is grateful she got to watch her grandkids grow up and help raise them. Kim divorced Matt when her girls were young since she couldn’t be the stay-at-home wife he wanted. Kim returned to work as an attorney, trying to balance her motherly duties with work; Jo and Shelley helped attend to her daughters, with Jo always telling Kim, who felt guilty, that she was doing her best.

Missy comes next, who feels guilty for not believing Lila and the other rumors about her boss, Lester. His sexual assaults, “ranging from unwanted touches and kisses to rape” came out (454). Though Missy defended him, he retired, leaving the tainted publishing house to Missy. Missy admits she’s not the feminist Jo raised her to be since she didn't believe the women. Jo tells Missy she can’t undo past mistakes and can only look forward and do better to fix problems.

Lastly, Lila arrives from her world travels. She doesn’t interact much with her family but stays with Bethie and Harold every once in a while. Lila seems different, less dramatic, and Shelley and Jo wonder why. A few days later, as Jo gets weaker, Lila calls her “Mommy” like a child and tells her she’s pregnant. She promises she wants the baby, since she always loved babysitting and that Bethie will let her work and stay at Blue Hill Farm. Bethie says she owes Jo.

Jo is happy for Lila, telling her she will make a great mother. She tells them all to take care and drifts into the unknown, thinking of her parents and Bethie when they were little and telling her little sister stories.

Bethie, Shelley, Harold, and Lila’s little boy, Tim, along with her nieces and grandnieces, travel to the old house in Detroit. Reminiscing, they show “Tiny Tim” the house where Jo and Bethie grew up. Flora explains to Tim that she goes to college in Ann Arbor nearby. Tim mentions how Jo was his mom’s mom, his grandmama, but she’s dead; he asks if Lila misses her. The others stifle tears. Lila responds that she does. She regrets that she wasn’t the best kid and tells him how Jo would have loved him. Bethie wishes Jo could have seen how Lila turned out, a patient, doting mother. Bethie takes a picture of the old house on her phone to savor the memory.