French Braid

David is the protagonist in Chapter 8, which takes place in Philadelphia during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. David recently retired at 68. Greta had retired years earlier. Emily is an emergency-room physician. Their son, Nicholas, is married to a physician, Juana; they live in New York City with their five-year-old son, Benny. The pandemic makes it impossible for Juana to be present physically with Nicholas and Benny. Nicholas calls David to ask if he and Benny can stay with them during the pandemic. David responds, “Your mother’s already headed out the front to watch for your car” (219).

David and Greta prepare their house. Benny will stay in Nicholas’s old bedroom. Nicholas, an inventor, needs an Internet workspace. David plants a garden, using already-blooming plants. When Greta says Benny would rather have seen the plants break the ground, David replies, “Well, at least it’s something he and I can do together” (221). Greta confronts David about his fretfulness: He had been fearful that he would not be a good father, and Greta reminds him of how well it worked out and that he underestimates himself. David reminisces about meeting Greta. After months of working together, he looked at her during a chance conversation and suddenly recognized she was a remarkable person. Six months later, they married.

Nicholas arrives with Benny. Despite his warning, Greta gives Nicholas a big hug. Before they get into the house, Benny announces that they’re going to get a dog. Nicholas says it is something they have considered. David and Greta agree to the idea.

Nicholas contacts his high-school friend Julie, who works at a shelter. She shows up with a dog who has one floppy and one upright ear. Benny falls in love with him and decides to call him John. David discovers that Benny is much like David was as a young child: very talkative and excitable. David is surprised to find that Benny rediscovers many of the things he discovered when he was a child. David asks Greta, “What will we do when they leave for good? [...] Will we have to go through that whole empty-nest thing all over again?” (232). Benny looks unique in that he is the only Garrett with jet-black hair and dark eyes, but despite this, he has many Garrett-like qualities. Nicholas observes that families are like French-braided hair: One can untie the braids, but the hair remains perpetually crimped, as if still yoked to its origin.

One evening David gets a call from Alice in Florida, who informs him that Lily has remarried. While living in Asheville with Serena and her husband, Jeff, Lily met a fellow, fell in love, and got married without even telling Serena. The groom is a history professor no one has met. They have moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This rankles Alice, who indicates she doesn’t want to talk to Lily in light of what she considers juvenile behavior—though she admits that Lily’s husbands keep improving in profession.

David relates this to Greta, deeming the situation absurd. Greta tells him to remember that this is America: “Consider the gene pool […] This country was settled by dissidents and malcontents and misfits and adventurers. Thorny people. They don’t always follow the etiquette” (237).

Nicholas sees the photo albums Lily bequeathed to David. He asks his father to identify the people in the pictures. The author notes that whoever collected them must have assumed the identities of the people depicted would be obvious, because no names are written on the backs of the photos. David sees one small photo of himself in a white bathrobe. The photo is from the family’s vacation at Deep Creek Lake when he was seven. He remembers his father encouraging him to wade farther into the water, like the Bentley son. He remembers the bottom suddenly falling away and how he went under. It was not Robin but Bentley who saw him floundering and called out to Robin, who jumped in to save him. The memory is so painful that David pretends not to recognize the photo and leaves the room.

Eventually, the time comes for Nicholas and Benny to return to New York. David is surprised at how many people Benny has gotten to know despite the pandemic. Nicholas expresses his appreciation after putting Benny and John in the car, saying, “Thanks you guys […] I guess you’ll be happy to have a little peace and quiet again” (242). After they leave, Greta and David begin to straighten the house. Over the next few days, they come across different things that Nicholas and Benny inadvertently left and gather them to mail. Everything they find contains little memories that fill them with emotions they cannot resist.