Cambridge is associated with Eric and Andrew’s home life, especially the condo their families visit after they adopt Wen. Recalled by Eric during the cabin siege, the city becomes a setting for the contrasts between welcome and distance within their extended family.

Setting and Family History

Eric remembers that he and Andrew moved in together more than fifteen years earlier, when his parents gave them a checkered blue bedspread and a framed blessing as apartment-warming gifts. Eric kept the bedspread for the guest room, even after they moved on from their first apartment to the condo associated with Cambridge. The objects carry different histories: Andrew objected to the framed blessing, and the couple discarded it, while Eric preserved the bedspread for his parents’ possible visits.

Visits to the Condo

Eric’s parents first visited Cambridge and the condo shortly after he and Andrew adopted Wen. They returned four more times, but never stayed in the guest room; instead, they chose a hotel, saying they did not want to be a bother or get in the way. Eric believed his mother’s regret was sincere. His father, meanwhile, would break eye contact and lower his head, seeming to remember that he was not supposed to enjoy their company as much as he did.

Meaning in Eric’s Recollection

The remembered visits sharpen a contrast in how the two sides of the family inhabit Eric and Andrew’s shared life. Andrew’s parents drive down from Vermont every two months, while Eric’s parents visit far less often and keep the distance of a hotel between themselves and the household. Eric describes feeling both happy and proud that his parents came and infinitely sad about the distance that remained. In the cabin, the memory briefly draws him away from the immediate crisis and returns him to the unresolved tenderness of family life in Cambridge.