Windfalls ~ questions for "Into the Flux" section

It's interesting that what we notice in reading concerns whateve is going on in our lives at that time. I noticed this section about Cerise brushing her daughter's hair. See if you can figure out why this part stood out for me:

"On weekdays Melody had to brush her own hair. But Saturdays Cerise could fix it for her. On Saturdays she could take her time, glorying in the golden heft and gloss of her daughter's hair, brushing until it shone and crackled, and then, when it lay across Melody's shoulders and down her back like a tamed waterfall, trying out the styles she'd imagined all week as she dusted and mopped" (p. 62).

You would never guess. My 8-year-old granddaughter has lost her hair, which used to be long and blonde like Melody's, cascading over her shoulders. Now she wears a ballcap or a hairband around her baldness (as in this recent photo of her), which is caused by Alopecia areata totalis. Otherwise, she looks like a newborn yet to grow hair.

All in all, this was a depressing section to read, maybe because things in the world today seem as bad as in the book. We have rising gas prices and food priced beyond the ability of some people to pay for it; the book has a pregnant Anna whose husband has lost his job, and Cerise who is back in school with a rebellious daughter who has been fired from McDonald's.

QUESTIONS:
What depressing things have you picked up in the book? What positive things?

What do you think will come of this fight between Cerise and Melody about the battery?

"Don't worry, Travie," Melody called after them as she opened the refrigerator. "Meedee'll get you a new battery. I promise" (p. 126).