One Whole and Perfect Day Chapter 3 Summary

Marigold

  • It's time to take a trip to the adult day care and meet Marigold, Lily's mom, who spends each workday mostly dealing with old people who are a little off their rockers. Luckily, today is going pretty smoothly.
  • One thing that's not going smoothly, though, is her son, Lonnie, and his lack of decision-making skills. Lonnie is living in a boarding house and is, by all accounts, still attending classes at Mercer College, where he's studying literature.
  • Marigold wonders if, when she's gone, Lily will look after Lonnie, or if she's written him off as a failure the way Marigold's father has.
  • One of Marigold's favorite clients is Mrs. Nightingale, who enjoys card games and reading. She equally dislikes Mrs. Nightingale's nervous daughter-in-law, Sarah, however, who is waiting outside her room.
  • Sarah tells Marigold that she and her husband want to take a second honeymoon, but likely won't because they have no one to keep Mrs. Nightingale from burning the house down. Marigold wishes she could take Mrs. Nightingale for a weekend, but has promised Lily that she won't bring home any more elderly clients to stay with the family.