How I Met My Husband

“We heard the plane come over at noon, roaring through the radio news, and we were sure it was going to hit the house, so we all ran out into the yard.”

The plane in the first sentence of the story introduces the idea of disruption to the Peebles household. The fact that the family can hear the plane before they see it creates suspense and gives rise to the fear that it will collide with the house. Indeed, in the full course of the narrative, the plane, piloted by Chris Watters, will metaphorically “hit” the household, as it will disrupt Edie’s relationship with herself and her employers.

“Mrs. Peebles had an automatic washer and dryer, the first I ever saw. I have had those in my own home for such a long time now it’s hard to remember how much of a miracle it was to me, not having to struggle with the wringer and hang up and haul down. Let alone not having to heat water.”

This passage gives a sense of elapsed time between the narrator and the girl she was at the time of her story. There is the sense that her younger self felt transported to the future with her new job; whereas now, she has gotten so used to these conveniences that she can take them for granted. This distance emphasizes and foreshadows Edie’s growth after the experiences of the story.

“The light had a rosy cast and the mat sank under your feet like snow, except that it was warm. The mirror was three-way. With the mirror all steamed up and the air like a perfume cloud, from the things I was allowed to use, I stood up on the side of the tub and admired myself naked, from three directions.”

The pink bathroom represents a type of decorative femininity that Edie has been estranged from during her hard life at the farm. The fact that Edie is “allowed to use” the bathing things indicates that she is borrowing this luxury rather than owning it. Nevertheless, the bathroom also gives her a new sense of her sexuality, as she inspects and admires herself naked for the first time.