Tillie Olsen, author of I Stand Here Ironing, writes about a mother struggling to make ends meet with her eldest daughter, Emily. Recently approached by a school administrator (one who has asked for a face-to-face meeting discussing Emily), the mother uses the time while ironing to revisit the memories of when she first had Emily and was left to raise her alone during the Great Depression. This was a time in history when poverty and hardship accumulated and became an economic crisis. The recollection of both their earlier lives help to develop the theme: social circumstances often strain and weaken relationships. She had to suppress her role as a mother and work in order to provide for them both which, ironically, had put more distance between
