--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here they found themselves year after…" description: "\"“Here they found themselves year after year- a group of busy, youngish women who had eased their cars impatiently through the archaic streets of Roseda..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png" --- # Here they found themselves year after year- a group of… ![“Here they found themselves year after year- a group of busy, youngish women who had eased their cars impatiently through the archaic streets of Rosedale, who had complained for a week previously about the time lost, the fuss over the children's dresses, and, above all, the boredom, but who were…” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png) > ““Here they found themselves year after year- a group of busy, youngish women who had eased their cars impatiently through the archaic streets of Rosedale, who had complained for a week previously about the time lost, the fuss over the children's dresses, and, above all, the boredom, but who were drawn together by a rather implausible allegiance- not so much to Miss Marsalles as to the ceremonies of their childhood, to a more exacting pattern of life which had been breaking apart even then but which survived, and unaccountably still survived, in Miss Marsalles's living room.”” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women find comfort in shared childhood rituals, preserving identity amid changing surroundings. **In simple terms:** Shared memories bind people together. Key Takeaway Value communal traditions. Themes memory community identity Mood nostalgic contemplative Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - family gatherings - neighborhood events - cultural festivals - personal storytelling Key Concepts Nostalgia social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - What rituals sustain you? - How do shared memories shape personal identity? A Different Perspective Rituals can become exclusionary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breaking apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-apart/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Drawn together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawn-together/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-room/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [\_sometimes you feeL the weight of the probLem & sometimes it's getting hard on you & you might say I CANT TAKE IT ANYM0RE..that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-feel-the-weight-of-the-problem-sometimes-it-s-getting/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I believe that everything happens for a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/i-believe-that-everything-happens-for-a-reason/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [ “\[Christopher:\] You cannot conceive of the quantity of explosives the armies throw at each other for each man killed! The shells make a continuous… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/christopher-you-cannot-conceive-of-the-quantity-of-explosives-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like all I can do is keep writing this gibberish to keep from breaking apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/i-don-t-know-what-s-wrong-with-me-it-s-like-all-i-can-do-is-keep/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [“You can't keep your seat?' 'No.' It's barely a whisper, and the heat of embarrassment scorches my skin.' 'How the hell can you not?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-yarros/you-can-t-keep-your-seat-no-it-s-barely-a-whisper-and-the-heat-of/) [Rebecca Yarros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-yarros/) > [Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/sometimes-good-things-fall-apart-so-better-things-could-fall-together/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [“One of the strangest things about life is that it will chug on, blind and oblivious, even as your private world - your little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/one-of-the-strangest-things-about-life-is-that-it-will-chug-on-blind/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Where is he?” Leo sat up, but his head felt like it was floating. They’d landed inside the compound. Something had happened on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/where-is-he-leo-sat-up-but-his-head-felt-like-it-was-floating-they-d/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“He could be breaking apart inside and you'd never know it from the way he acted. He'd be just as pleasant and polite as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/he-could-be-breaking-apart-inside-and-you-d-never-know-it-from-the/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [closed my eyes and listened. It was like music I'd heard all my life, even more than "This Lullaby." All those keystrokes, all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/closed-my-eyes-and-listened-it-was-like-music-i-d-heard-all-my-life/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [I'm putting up a great front, then because I feel like I'm breaking apart inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/i-m-putting-up-a-great-front-then-because-i-feel-like-i-m-breaking/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [“Why keep putting yourself back together if you’re just going to keep breaking apart?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-griffin/why-keep-putting-yourself-back-together-if-you-re-just-going-to-keep/) [R.L. Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-griffin/) > [Some of the wives didn't keep up with the program. It started breaking apart during the Apollo days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/some-of-the-wives-didn-t-keep-up-with-the-program-it-started-breaking/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [As I get older, my perspective changes, and I just see how relationships aren't always what they appear to be. It's one of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goapele/as-i-get-older-my-perspective-changes-and-i-just-see-how/) [Goapele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goapele/) > [“You couldn’t control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/you-couldn-t-control-the-direction-of-your-family-any-more-than-you/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More Breaking apart quotes > [\_sometimes you feeL the weight of the probLem & sometimes it's getting hard on you & you might say I CANT TAKE IT ANYM0RE..that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-you-feel-the-weight-of-the-problem-sometimes-it-s-getting/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As I get older, my perspective changes, and I just see how relationships aren't always what they appear to be. It's one of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goapele/as-i-get-older-my-perspective-changes-and-i-just-see-how/) [Goapele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goapele/) > [Some of the wives didn't keep up with the program. It started breaking apart during the Apollo days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/some-of-the-wives-didn-t-keep-up-with-the-program-it-started-breaking/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [“Why keep putting yourself back together if you’re just going to keep breaking apart?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-griffin/why-keep-putting-yourself-back-together-if-you-re-just-going-to-keep/) [R.L. Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-griffin/) > [I'm putting up a great front, then because I feel like I'm breaking apart inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/i-m-putting-up-a-great-front-then-because-i-feel-like-i-m-breaking/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [closed my eyes and listened. It was like music I'd heard all my life, even more than "This Lullaby." All those keystrokes, all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/closed-my-eyes-and-listened-it-was-like-music-i-d-heard-all-my-life/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“He could be breaking apart inside and you'd never know it from the way he acted. He'd be just as pleasant and polite as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/he-could-be-breaking-apart-inside-and-you-d-never-know-it-from-the/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [“Where is he?” Leo sat up, but his head felt like it was floating. They’d landed inside the compound. Something had happened on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/where-is-he-leo-sat-up-but-his-head-felt-like-it-was-floating-they-d/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“One of the strangest things about life is that it will chug on, blind and oblivious, even as your private world - your little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/one-of-the-strangest-things-about-life-is-that-it-will-chug-on-blind/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/sometimes-good-things-fall-apart-so-better-things-could-fall-together/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [“You can't keep your seat?' 'No.' It's barely a whisper, and the heat of embarrassment scorches my skin.' 'How the hell can you not?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-yarros/you-can-t-keep-your-seat-no-it-s-barely-a-whisper-and-the-heat-of/) [Rebecca Yarros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-yarros/) > [I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like all I can do is keep writing this gibberish to keep from breaking apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/i-don-t-know-what-s-wrong-with-me-it-s-like-all-i-can-do-is-keep/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [ “\[Christopher:\] You cannot conceive of the quantity of explosives the armies throw at each other for each man killed! The shells make a continuous… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/christopher-you-cannot-conceive-of-the-quantity-of-explosives-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I believe that everything happens for a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/i-believe-that-everything-happens-for-a-reason/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [“You couldn’t control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/you-couldn-t-control-the-direction-of-your-family-any-more-than-you/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) [Browse all 44 Breaking apart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-apart/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Here they found themselves year after year- a group of busy, youngish women who had eased their cars impatiently through the archaic streets of Rosedale, who had complained for a week previously about the time lost, the fuss over the children's dresses, and, above all, the boredom, but who were drawn together by a rather implausible allegiance- not so much to Miss Marsalles as to the ceremonies of their childhood, to a more exacting pattern of life which had been breaking apart even then but which survived, and unaccountably still survived, in Miss Marsalles's living room.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/here-they-found-themselves-year-after-year-a-group-of-busy-youngish/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Breaking apart" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/here-they-found-themselves-year-after-year-a-group-of-busy-youngish/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c5/alice-munro-1231_breaking-apart_here-they-found-themselves-year-after-ye_794357.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Here they found themselves year after year- a group of busy, youngish women who had eased their cars…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Munro", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Here they found themselves year after...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/here-they-found-themselves-year-after-year-a-group-of-busy-youngish/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/here-they-found-themselves-year-after-year-a-group-of-busy-youngish/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```