In my own soon to be thirteen years of life, I’ve never suffered any majorly tragic losses. Sure my on and off sick grandparents, that were in fact so sick that I never got to know them, have passed but nobody that I need to have with me at almost all times has passed. I still have the one person that I can always count on for almost anything that comes to mind, Mike Noonan doesn’t. His wife Johanna died of a stroke on a hot day, in the pharmacy parking lot; while she was pregnant. If this were to happen to myself, I can’t imagine what kind of affects this would have on me, and it practically tears apart poor Mike’s life. But Johanna’s widowed husband is strong, and he faces a lot in the few years proceeding her death.
If you are deathly afraid of heights, and you climb a wall at Adventure Rock anyway you are being brave: if you are an avid rock climber and climb a wall at Adventure Rock you are not being brave. This proves that Mike Noonan is an extremely brave man. He is not an avid ghost hunter, but he hunts the supernatural anyway. After some strange and terrifying dreams about his old lake house “Sara Laughs” Mike returns there to settle his mind. I think any normal person would want to stay away from somewhere if they were having dreams about a place in which they are attacked by a strangely lumpy monster. The simple will to go back to the house in the first place is courageous. Right when Mike walks through that door, the hauntings begin. He literally is engulfed in the sound of a young child’s tears as soon as his steps echo into the house. But does he leave? No he stays and witnesses refrigerator magnets move themselves, “Bunter’s Bell” ringing, and more tears from a little boy. Mike goes to sleep every night, knowing that some potentially dangerous creatures are watching him. Does he just ignore these terrifying spirits? No he talks to them through the refrigerator magnets. If you reflect in on yourself, you have to admit you probably wouldn’t be brave enough to withstand any of these things, but second rate author Mike Noonan can.
After a few days on the TR Mike runs into the potential cure for his grieving; Mattie Devore and her daughter Kyra. The lovely (and young) Mattie has also been recently widowed by her husband Lance, and the two eventually turn to each other for comfort. I’m sure they loved each other in a friendly way, but not in the passionate way that they both used to feel. When Mattie offers to house Mike for a night he refuses multiple times, and even when he accepts her offer he is reluctant. Lust was a big factor in Mike and Mattie’s relationship, and you’d think that because of how much he admired her physical attributes that he would be more eager. He isn’t though and I believe that this is because his heart is still Jo’s. One line in the book mentions a moment where Mike realizes that he has to have Jo, and no one else can hold a candle to her. It is possible that death was a good ending for Mattie because of this, just for the reason that I Mike really didn’t feel much more besides a good friendship, and a lot of lust.
Mike lost more than just his wife on the day of her death: he lost his unborn child too. If there’s one thing Mike yearns for almost half as much as his late wife, it is to be a parent. And to know that he came so close absolutely kills him. This is similar to Rosalie Hale from the Twilight series. She would do anything to be able to live again and have a child, but unfortunately for her it isn’t possible. To cope with this she basically becomes Bella’s child’s second mother. Having a child is also a dream of the past for Mike, so he becomes almost a father figure to little Kyra. Both of these characters both find alternatives for their baby dreams. Kyra fills the empty space that has been left in Mike, and he needs her more than she needs him.
Who knew that one event like that could snowball so much? Obviously Mike’s life would never be the same in the first place, but so much more happened that can never get reversed. For unfortunate Mike the grieving may never end, he may be forever tortured by his memories. If I were to lose someone like that my life would be changed forever, just never as drastically as Mike’s.
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