Breaking Clean reminded me a little bit of Idaho life. Though I have never personally lived it, I have friends and acquaintances that have. They shared similar stories of being torn between "breaking tradition" or "breaking clean." The choice that Judy Blunt makes presses down on her like a two ton heavy thing. Which in-turn has created stress related disorders to deal with and to pass onto her children. She, in the thick if it all, was able to redefine herself in a place of isolation all the while staying in the place she loved.
I like how she traces her childhood passing out in the garden and how proud her mother and grandfather were for working so hard, to early adulthood when she was in the kitchen while her mother was kneading the bread. "I wanted her to grab my cold hand and tell me how to run." And eventually marriage, a lifeless marriages from a man who didn't know how to cry.
Maybe we all have experience these sort of traditional setbacks. For me, growing up, the women did not serve their plates until all the men were seated. As soon as I was old enough to figure it out, I "broke clean." Even though the phrase may seem to be freeing and filled with resolution, there is still no consolation.
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