Jamie

Jamie, Katherine’s sister, appears in the story through shared family occasions and the time they spend together at camp. Though the account gives few details of her independent life, it shows her making art, taking part in a major transition after high school, and reacting physically to the news of Grandpa’s death. Her moments beside Katherine reveal both their closeness and the differences in how they bear grief.

Family and Milestones

Jamie is with Katherine and their grandparents at home when Katherine’s graduation is moved indoors because a thunderstorm begins at 4:30 and continues intermittently for hours. The indoor ceremony allows each senior only two tickets, so Michael has to wait at home; Jamie and the grandparents are there with him. The family then holds a graduation party at the house, with sandwiches, fresh fruit, and a chocolate cake.

Four days later, Jamie and Katherine leave for camp together. The sequence places Jamie alongside her sister at a threshold between school and the next stage of life, though the narrative does not specify what Jamie expects from that summer or what she plans to do afterward.

Work and Creative Interests

On visiting day at camp, Jamie shows her parents her oils and watercolors, as well as fabric she is weaving with Angela’s help. These works are among the few concrete details the story provides about Jamie’s interests. They give her a visible activity of her own during the visit, while Katherine spends part of the afternoon playing tennis with their father and later shows their mother the letters she receives from Michael.

Grandpa’s Death

When Katherine asks who will tell Jamie about Grandpa, the family recognizes that she has not yet received the news and asks whether Katherine can tell her. Katherine does so after breakfast. Jamie throws up as soon as she hears, a sharp physical response to the death; nevertheless, Katherine observes that Jamie takes it better than she does and does not want to go home. The family calls their parents, and Katherine speaks with Grandma, who recalls that she and Grandpa had forty-seven wonderful years together.

Role in Katherine’s Story

Jamie’s appearances tie Katherine’s romantic and personal turning points to the family life they share: she is present at the graduation that precedes Katherine’s summer separation from Michael, travels with Katherine to camp, and must be told about their grandfather’s death. The contrast between Jamie’s immediate sickness and her subsequent refusal to go home, and Katherine’s own greater difficulty bearing the news, keeps the sisters’ responses distinct without suggesting that one grieves more deeply than the other. Jamie’s brief scenes make her both a companion in Katherine’s transition and a person whose reactions are not simply identical to her sister’s.