Eying Widening Horizons

In this fifth and concluding volume of The Seasons of Youth, Louis Daniel Brodsky celebrates his girl's and boy's passage into teenage years, his daughter progressing from age eleven to sixteen and his son from seven to thirteen.

Both parents relive their own youths, as their children experience the joys, adventures, and challenges of this formative time. Their son goes to summer camp — his first trip away from home — and joins a soccer team and the Cub Scouts. Their daughter begins taking interest in cultural events, by going to weekly dance classes and by occasionally attending the symphony, with her father.

During this time, both son and daughter encounter the gravity of death, when they lose pets and, much more powerfully, their mother's brother, their beloved "Uncle Duck."

Contrasting with their parents' comforting presence during these milestones is the subtly evolving prospect of divorce. All of these elements unfold before the children, as they eye widening horizons that beckon them to journey toward the adult world, where they'll soon take their places.