I just finished reading a couple of books now that I picked up by chance in the library. One of the authors I had read before the other I had never heard of. The books are "Made in the USA" by Billie Letts and "Between the Tides" by Patti Callahan Henry. They were both excellent and after thinking about it they actually have a common theme. They both address how events in your childhood can have a profound affect on your life. The characters in "Made in the USA" were younger, 15 and 11, but the girls mother died when she was 6 and she felt it was her fault. This affected her self-esteem and her ability to bond with others. In "Between the Tides" the main character is older, probably late twenties or early thirties. For her it was when she was 12 a family friend that was 2 died. Again she thought it was her fault but what compounded the problem was her family moved away within days of it happening and she had believed it was because of her that they had to move. In both books they were wrong. The deaths were tragic but in no way their fault. Not only does this make me consider my life and how events may or may not have affected how I live now but I also look at my kids. How is what they have gone through in the past going to affect them later? How can I help them understand that not everything that happens is because of them so they don't carry any unnecessary burdens?