How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I was Joey then, not Joe: Joey Dowdel, and my sister was Mary Alice. In our first visits we were still kids, so we could hardly see her town because of Grandma. (P.1)
When Joey first starts visiting Grandma during the summer, he still goes by Joey rather than Joe because he's just a kid. As the years go by though, Joey and Mary Alice both start to grow up… and they know that their time with Grandma is limited.
Quote #2
Now I'm older than Grandma was then, quite a bit older. But as the time gets past me, I seem to remember more and more about those hot summer days and nights, and the last house in town, where Grandma lived. (P.2)
When the book opens up, Joe (not Joey any longer) is an old man reflecting back on all the good times that he had at Grandma's house over the summer. Now that he's an adult, he has a different perspective on those days—but he still remembers them clearly.
Quote #3
"It was because you wadded up your underdrawers to stop up the flue on the stove and smoke out the schoolhouse! That was the end of yer education!"
"Working for you was an education," Grandma muttered, though only Mary Alice and I heard. (3.135-136)
It's strange to think that Grandma Dowdel was once a little girl, too, but Aunt Puss remembers when she was just a kid getting in trouble at school. The years sure have taught Grandma a lot.