On dead husbands and why they make things worse

[dreadedcandiru2]

The interesting thing about Val is that it took her years of strip time to finally get off her ass, quit her dithering and her actually pretending to care what the kids thought and marry Phil the motorcycle cop. It says a whole Hell of a lot that Holly, who used to believe that she'd be asked to forget her father and be told to Get With The Program Because Mom Gets To Win All The Time because reasons, warmed to the idea of a new father loooooong before Valerie warmed to the idea of a second husband.

This, I think, is because she has yet to really let the idea of being a widow sink in. She can collect the man's pension, she can go to his graveside but she can't really allow herself to move on because that would mean that his death is somehow okay. Why, if time can go on without the first husband, it's okay if her kids betray him by growing up and growing sick of each other's company. Evie might be the bitch who armed the drama bomb we call Val Stone but even she saw the need to move Holly into a different room. Granted, she seems to have done so by explaining the concessions she could extort but the deed was done.