My Lost and Found Life (Pgs 244-312)

Summary:
Ashley and Patrick go out to ear again before he leaves Thursday. After a night out she spends three nights with Patrick. She kisses him goodbye and just like that her romance with Patrick is over and he goes to Ireland. However her thoughts are not about Patrick instead about her mother. For thanksgiving she goes to Gloria's house and the only thing she can think about is missing her mother and wanting to hear her voice again. When getting gas she meets up with Cindy, Nicole's mother, and finds out that she is going out with Phil and that she is the reason why she is staying in the camper. Ashley goes back to Gloria's house to get some money from the cabinet in the garage. While searching she does not find the money and tells Gloria. For Christmas Ashley goes to Earl's house and spends it with his grandchildren and his daughter. One day at the coffee house a crazy comes in and lights the coffee house on fire and Ashley has to rush and get everyone out. She finds out that Jerry and the crazy man dies during the fire and is in shock.  She denies that she is not okay and goes back to the camper. Few days pass by and she starts to get sick to the point that one day Earl had to call Strobel, a cop that was keeping an eye on he since her mother disappeared. She is sent to the hospital and gets many visits from Mal, Nicole, and from Gloria. After a while staying at Glora's she finds an apartment with two girls, gets a new job at a restaurant and starts to take classes at City College. While everything seemed like it was going great Strobel comes to her with news that her mother is dead and was found near Curtis's cabin and that she might have been there for a year and Boone had ever noticed.  Gloria plans to arrange a funeral and a few people attend.  Life goes on but Ashley promised herself that she would never forget that her mother did it all because she loved her that she would risk her job and that all that mattered was the future.

Quote: "There's no one to call". (Bowsher 273).

Reaction:
This quote was said by Ashley when she was asked if she wanted them to call someone.  I think that this was a very power moment in the novel because Ashley all of a sudden realized that she was all alone. Even though she already knew this but she had a epiphany that her mother was not going to be there for her or anyone else because people believed that it was cause of her that her mother stole all that money. I also think that this was foreshadowing because she is saying that she has no one to call, which could mean that her mother never came back. As we see her mother doesn't come back because she dies before anyone was able to find her. When I read this quote I could not see myself in that situation having no one to call during a horrible event like that. I think that if she did not get help that she would have been in a depressed state because a lot of things were going wrong in her life and this would just be another load for her to handle.

My Lost and Found Life (Pgs 186-243)

Summary: 

After a rough night sleeping in the damp camper, Ashley yelled at Jerry for snapping her bra, as a joke. She also called on him for always starring at her and always watching what she is doing. She embarrassed  him to the point that Jerry leaves the coffee house. Mal her boss who is also gay, agreed with what she told Jerry. however he told her that she should try not to make everyone run away from the cafe because they need costumers. While Mal was doing one of his usual routines, which was talking to Patrick, Ashley was listening to their conversation. Without an invite she entered the conversation and told them some very good advice in Mal's perspective about relationships. This conversation was able to show the reader that even though Patrick was six years older than Ashley she had a thing for Patrick, and the feelings were mutual. After a long day at work she went to the camper and fell asleep. The next minute she heard banging at her door and thought it was a robber. Waiting for five minutes in the silent camper she went to check on Earl. She found him on the floor blending so she called the ambulance and Phil. So for the night she went to Gloria's house and slept in her car for the night and left early in the morning. Later that day she rented a room to sleep in and got reacquainted with Tattie. Who had quit her job because she got sick of old men looking at her naked body for money. While at a book store she meet Patrick who was so amazed that he would find her reading. She left the bookstore and he followed behind her, after walking with each other for a while they decided to go get a cup of coffee to drink. While drinking coffee they started to talk about their lives, and find out that they both like movies and plan to go to the movies latter that week. When they meet up to go to the movies they make more plans with each other and Ashley finds out that he was going back to Ireland. So they plan to spend a weekend together at his friends cabin. That is when Patrick finds out that Ashley is six years younger than him but Ashley did not care because that was the best time she had since her mother left her.

Quote: 

"No, he couldn't have known you were there." (Bowser 205 ).

Reaction: 

This quote was said by Earl to Ashley when she went  to go see if he was okay after the robbery. When i read this quote, and image of someone going to Ashley's camper popped in my head. For  a while I thought that the person that went to her camper was her mother. I thought this because if it wasn't the robber then it would be someone that Ashley knew. And if it was the robber i think that he would have been more aggressive. Would had broken the lock to get into the camper. But how it was described in the book, it felt as if someone was trying to warn Ashley that something was wrong instead of trying to steal her stuff. It was part of the book that i thought that her mother had come back for her daughter and was going to bring her with her. But instead the reader just does not know who the mystery person is. I believe that by the end of the novel we will find out who the stranger was by the end of the novel. 

My Lost and Found Life (Pgs 124-185)

Summary: 

Forgetting that she sent an anonymous letter, she went along with her job search. However she was stumped when the managers would ask her if  she had a resume. After a couple of interviews she created her resume. But she started to see that many places do not want someone that has no experience and just got out of college. couple of interviews later she was able to get a job at a cyber cafe for $8.50 an hour. Even though it was not the best job in the word, Ashley still took the job because it was better than nothing. After a long time of thinking she also decided that she had to start to change her life style. She choose to give her cat, Stella, to Gloria to take care of because is was going to cost her more money to take care of her and also have to buy her food. then she asked Phil, her mother's ex-boyfriend, if she could live out back of his garage in his camper. after some consideration and quick thinking he believed it would be a good experience if she lived by herself and told her yes. But for safety she had to make sure no one saw her go into the camper because her living there is illegal. The next day she started work at nine, she was late for work because she was too busy looking for a parking spot. But she did not get in trouble for getting to work late, on the first day she started to learn her co-workers and and learned many different skills. After a couple of weeks working hours at the cyber cafe she started to notice that a lot of people would just talk to her freely about their life, and at one point she had saw that she had to make up lies about her life, so that people would not know the truth about her. after Tattie came from rehab she meet her at he job and Ashley found out that she got a job as an exotic dance. But she could not believe that Tattie would expose her body to strange men, they both got into an argument to the point that Tattie stormed out of the cafe. After living in the camper for a couple of weeks Ashley and Old Earl, person that is one the night shift for Phil's business, started to get more acquainted with each other and started to tell him more about her life and her mother and Earl would just sit and listen until it was time for closing.

Quote: 

"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well." (Bowser 185).

Reaction: 

Old Earl said this quote to Ashley while they were talking, and he said that this was one of his favorite quotes including others. the reason why i chose this quote was because i mad me think and read the line twice.When I read this quote I kind of agreed with it because if you do not know anything about someone then that means that you cant categorize them as someone that is abnormal or weird. This got me thinking if the people that I know are normal. I guessed that  some people were normal like those people that i barely knew at school and teachers and strangers. because i do not know them at all and i just cant categorize them as weird because how they look. Like the  quote "don't judge a book by its cover". Looking at the novel, Old Earl would be considered normal to Ashley because she barely knows anything about him because he just listens to her, and gives her advise instead of talking about her life. Ashley would not be considered normal to Earl because he knows a lot about her, but a question that i had was then what would Ashley be considered as to Earl?

My Lost and Found Life (Pgs 60-123)

Summary: 

This section of the book is when Ashley starts to feel the effect of the ecstasy that Tattie had given her. After a while sitting on her living room floor talking about how they parents are, they decided to go out to the club. The entire time Webb, Tattie's friends, took care of Ashley making sure that she drank enough water. When the got back, to Ashley's house, her and Webb got more acquainted with each other. That the woke up with each other the next morning, but Webb didn't want a relationship or anything serious, and Ashley understood that and he left. The rest of the day Ashley felt depressed and could not stop thinking about the night before her mother disappeared. After a couple of weeks Ashley decides to go to Gloria to get her too look at the bills. After looking through the stack of bills Gloria tells her that she is going to have to find a new place to live, find a job and also sell or keep the stuff that is in the house, because she was getting evicted. While talking to Gloria they got on the topic of her mother dating someone else. Gloria could not believe it especially her being her best friend, that she would not tell her that she had broken up with Phil. She starts to look for an apartment but, by the time she looked at three apartments she had seen that first she needed a job because people needed to know that she was going to pay for the rent. Knowing that she did not have a lot of time left she started her garage sale and was encountered by one of her others co-workers, who wanted to speak to her. After two days she meet him at a restaurant and found out that Curtis Davidson was actually very close to her mother. That he was the one that had helped her mother steal money from the company for years. So Ashley with the help of Nicole decided that she would send and anonymous letter to the company and IRS to check on Curtis Davis's record.

Quote: 

"You know, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ." (Bowser 122).

Reaction: 
When I first saw this line i knew that it sounded familiar so I decided to look it up. I found out that it was from The Mourning Bride, which was written by William Congreve. He was an English playwright and a poet. However this is not the exact quote but it has been paraphrased over the years. the original quote is "heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." I think that this quote means that there is nothing in hell or in the world that is worst than when a woman is angry. I agree with this quote because I think that it is true. For example when i was in middle, I had a dean who when got angry the entire school could hear her voice, which would scare the fifth grades half to death. When I read this quote I couldn't believe that Ashley would send an anonymous letter to the Company and IRS to mess up Mr. Curtis Davidson's career. I think that the moment of her life going down the drain, made her do this. She should at least see what she is doing before she tries to mess up his life, because two wrongs do not make a right in life.

My Lost and Found Life (Pgs 1-59)

Summary: 
Ashley is a senior and before she even graduates her mother disappears and she is confronted by a cop. He tells her that they are looking for her mother because there has been one million dollars stolen from her company that she works at and now she is nowhere to be found. Wanting to know more about what was going on she called Gloria her mother's best friend to see if she knew anything but she was no help and neither was her mother's boyfriend Phil. Hours passed by and there was no call from her mother. Ashley found it hard to go to sleep so she stared out the window until at one point she fell asleep. The next day she went to school because she could not stand waiting for her mother. During class she got a blocked call but there was no response at the other end of the line. She decided to tell her best friend Nicole about what was happening. While they were talking Ashley decided to go to Phil's job. When she gets there she finds out that her mother had broken up with him and that she had been spending more time at work. A newspaper article was written about her mother the next day and everyone at her school treated her as a criminal. This didn't stop her from going to her graduation. That day she wanted to stay home but instead went out partying with an old friend named Tattie. The next day Nicole was at her front steps saying good bye to Ashley before she went to her trip to Hawaii. Having nothing to do Ashley goes back to Tattie's house and they go to a club where Tattie gets some ecstasy. They drive back to Ashley's house and have a little party with some friends and take some ecstasy to help Ashley cool off a little.

Quote: 

"When I hugged her good-bye, I held on tight for a few extra seconds, comforted by the reassuring arms of someone who cared about me. Then I let go." (Bowser 49).

Reaction: 

Ashley says this when she is saying good bye to her best friend Nicole who was leaving to go to Hawaii with the rest of her classmates. I think that this line shows symbolism because she is letting go of the only person that cared about her.  It symbolizes her living a life of her own without people that cared for her like her mother and best friend.  Even though it was the most hardest thing to do to let her best friend go she had to do it because she couldn't stand in the way of Nicole's life because her life is going down the drain. When I read this line I could not believe that someone's own mistake could affect another persons life to the point that their life is ruined and everyone has left her, and now shes in the world by herself. It is like she is in a maze with no exist. I think that Ashley and her mother don't even have a normal relationship, because she call her mother by her first name and before she disappeared she, Ashley tried to avoid her mother as much as possible.

My Bridges of Hope (Pgs 199-251)

Summary: 

In Vienna Elli has three brothers on her foot night and day. One of the brothers Andy, who she has been spending a lot of time with, asked if she could meet his sister-in-law. However he wants to introduce her as his fiancé. this was a surprise to Elli, that her response was that she did not want to get married because she wanted to go to America and get a job while she is also getting an education. This was the opposite of what Andy wanted which was to get married and go live in Israel. he confessed his long time love for her since he say her in Bratislava. But when he heard her decision, he became sick. He became so sick from her answer that it lead to him starting a violent outrage and attacked his brother Tommy. They call the police and they send him to a sanatorium. When Elli hears of this news she goes to the sanatorium, to go visit him. At the first sight of Elli one second latter he falls asleep, this occurs because the treatment that they gave him drained a lot of his energy. Since that day and on she visited him and feed him his lunch because that was the only way that he would even eat. During these visits she feels as if she is getting closer to him. But back home with Andy's brothers they are also getting closer to Elli, that by the time Andy gets out of the sanatorium all three of the brothers are in love with Elli. 


After a few weeks the brothers get the opportunity to go to Israel and Elli and her mother go to Germany. There they stay with a couple of friends while trying to get a visa to go to America. However they get declined a visa, and are told that the only way they can get a visa is if they go to Austria. During their time in Germany Elli gets a job in Camp Feldafing, as a teacher. Then the camp gets moved to Camp Gerestried, but there she gets a job as camp administration. At last after years of waiting they get their visa to America and there they begin their new life with their uncle and her brother Bubi. 

Quote: 

"When will the day come when I will wave good-bye to the empty platform from the window of a departing train?" (Jackson 1240).

Reaction: 

When I read this quote i thought that it was pretty funny imaging a random person waving goodbye to an empty platform. But  at the same time that it would be a very sad and joyful time because it would mean that there is no one left in Europe, and that they are the last of their friends and family to leave Europe. Its a joyful time because at last they are able to go to America and be reunited with Bubi who they have not seen for more than three years. Now Elli has the ability to live in a place where she will not feel like everyone around her has betrayed her or left. She can study how much she wants and still have a job. This quote also reminded me how at first she wanted to go to Israel. However her loyalty to her family is more important to her that she would rather go to America than follow he dream to go to Israel. However all her dreams do come true because at the end she is able to go to Israel and have a family of her own. 

My Bridges of Hope (Pgs 152-198 )

Summary: 

This section of the novel begins with Eretz Israel being free and the British leaving the land. However, after a few days it has been attacked by Arabs. When this many people start to become part of the fight, and join secret associations. While this happens Elli gets a job in teaching but before she starts she has to do community service with other teachers for a couple of days. During these couple of days she meets a guy named Vilo, who say her during the time she ran into the streets and started to dance in the rain. They start to get closer and learn more about each other lives. the couple of days end and Vilo wants to keep this friendship to keep on going. Elli has to say no because it is against of her religion and even if he becomes religious she is still not going to be able to be with him. Vilo promises her that he will find a way to make everything work so that they will be with each other. The other reason why she does not want to date him is because she does not want him to find out about her work for Briha. 


A lot of people are starting to go to Eretz Israel. Elli tries to get a spot to get her an her mother to go to however, they told her that at this point they are not transporting older people. So no Elli is stuck with her mother while all her love ones are some place else. At last Elli decides to tell her mother that she is working for Briha and that they have to make the choice if they are going to leave and go to Vienna and find a way to go to America. Their day comes and they go to the screening. Even though she tries to hind from her co-workers, they notice her and play along with her plan so they would not get caught. During her journey she meets Vilo again. And the first thing she thinks about is how she is dressed and if she is wearing the latest style. When he truck comes she says goodbye to him and starts to cry, and her mother tells her everything will be okay and that she will see him again someday. They reach Vienna with no troubles, and are greeted by six boys that she helped a couple of days ago escape to Vienna. They were so thankful for Elli's help that they were on her and her mother's hand feet all day. It was the best day of her life and it seemed like she was in heaven. 

Quote: 
"Once again we are pulling up our roots and obliterating our identity. This time, in order to live. " (Jackson 176).

Reaction: 

When I read this quote I had to look it over twice because i was kind of confused because when I put this in my own words i see it as saying that they are destroying all traces of their identity again but this time for so that they can live. I think that the only other time that they destroyed their identity was during the holocaust. But I see it as the Nazis trying to destroy their identity in the concentration camps, so that there would not be any evidence of the names of those they have killed. Then i thought maybe another time they try to destroy all traces of their identity was when they might of been trying to pretend that they are German and not get caught by the Nazis. However they could of got caught and that might be how they ended up in the concentration camps. This quote rose up the question when was the other time they had to do this but not in order to live?. I think that this is a very strong quote because its the point in the autobiography when Elli takes responsibility and tells her mother the truth and her thoughts about what is going on. Her being the bigger person and trying to get them out of Czechoslovakia. At this point of the story i think that she does not seem like the little girl she was always but as a grown woman, who knows what she wants in life and will try anything to reach that goal.