Then, after she announced her marriage to Rod, both her parents stopped speaking to her. Grace was shattered. She had been punished for her emancipation. Grace was not aware that healing herself was against the rules of her family. She was shocked to realize that neither of her parents wanted to have connections and lives of their own, and yet they resented and envied Grace's new life.
Family members pay a high price for going against the grain.
Grace had tired of putting her own life on hold and forced her parents to release her. Alice and James excelled and surpassed her parents in their accomplishments and education with their independent thoughts and actions. Both Grace and Alice were devastated by their family's rejection of them. The loss of their parents' approval shook the very foundation of their lives, leaving them hurt, disoriented and depressed. Of course, in this healing process, Alice's family had to learn to live with the level of distance and difference exhibited by James and Alice.