One thing that Lily continues to struggle with is being motherless. Although the Boatwright sisters act as mother figures to her, she still does not have a real mother. To cope with her struggle, Lily goes to the places that her mother went to when she was at the house. For example, Lily goes to the honey house, the place that May said her mother stayed, and rests there. Physically being in the location that her mother once was soothes Lily. Another method that Lily uses is imagining her mother being in various room in the house. She sees her “Sitting with her skirt spread over the piano bench. Kneeling beside Our Lady. Studying the recipe collection that May clipped from magazines” (175). She wants to feel her mother being present in her life.
