Holding Up The Universe

When Libby gets home, she finds her father waiting for her. He asks her what happened at the party, and she spills the whole story. The moment leads Libby to an epiphany: while she has been focused on her own suffering, she has ignored her father’s. He, too, has taken the brunt of grief and judgement, especially from those who felt he was responsible for Libby’s obesity. She apologizes for “everything” she “put him through,” and they agree to transparency (500). That is when her father confesses that he has been seeing a woman named Kerry but was too afraid to tell Libby. Libby remarks that she is the only person who has not moved on from her mother’s death, and her father responds, “It’s not moving on, Libbs. It’s moving differently” (501).

After the party, Jack gets a text from Kam, who is unexpectedly—and legitimately—sympathetic about Jack’s prosopagnosia. Kam’s acceptance prompts Jack to tell his family about the prosopagnosia, which seems to lift a tremendous weight off of him. Jack says, “I feel full, and also empty, but not in a bad way. Maybe empty’s not the right word. I feel light” (508). As he lies awake on his bed, he begins to realize why he can recognize Libby so well, thinking, “It’s not her weight at all.