Portable Childhoods: "Guy's Day Out"

If any story in this collection can be said to be extra personal to Ellen Klages, it is "Guy's Day Out". See, it is about the relationship between a father (Andrew) and his son (Tommy). Tommy has Down's Syndrome. It's a sweet story of parental love, of friendship, of dedication, of being tired, and without ever having to have experienced living with someone with Down's Syndrome, I dare say that Klages gets the little details right.

But, this gets to the personal aspect of "Guy's Day Out". Klages knows what she is writing about. In the Afterword to this collection, Ellen Klages reveals that her younger sister was born with Down's Syndrome.

"Guy's Day Out" comes across as neither angry nor preachy. Klages just simply covers the reality of living with it while skipping ahead across the years and seeing how little (and how much) changes. It's a sad story, but, perhaps, hopeful.

I'm really not sure how to "review" something like this, or even talk about "Guy's Day Out", so let me just say that at no time did "Guy's Day Out" feel out of place.