--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: before, has it?” Molly shook her head…" description: "\"“before, has it?” Molly shook her head. “No. But I still want him home.” She smiled at the sight of her three children napping on a coverlet spread ove..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/ann-shorey-55490_afternoon-sun_before-has-it-molly-shook-her-head-no-bu_450841.jpg" --- # before, has it?” Molly shook her head. “No. But I still… ![“before, has it?” Molly shook her head. “No. But I still want him home.” She smiled at the sight of her three children napping on a coverlet spread over the grass. Late afternoon sun angled through the grove of redbud trees, painting shadow pictures across their faces. “Children! Time to wake up…” quote by Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/ann-shorey-55490_afternoon-sun_before-has-it-molly-shook-her-head-no-bu_450841.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/ann-shorey-55490_afternoon-sun_before-has-it-molly-shook-her-head-no-bu_450841.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/840/ann-shorey-55490_afternoon-sun_before-has-it-molly-shook-her-head-no-bu_450841.jpg) > ““before, has it?” Molly shook her head. “No. But I still want him home.” She smiled at the sight of her three children napping on a coverlet spread over the grass. Late afternoon sun angled through the grove of redbud trees, painting shadow pictures across their faces. “Children! Time to wake up. We don’t want to be out after dark.”” [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A mother balances concern for her missing husband with caring for her children, emphasizing family responsibility despite uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Mom worries about husband but focuses on kids. Key Takeaway Prioritize caring for those present. Themes family responsibility uncertainty parenting Mood tender concerned Type narrative emotional When to use this quote - home life - search for missing person - evening routines Key Concepts maternal instinct protective duty Questions to Reflect On - How do you manage personal worries while caring for others? - What does this scene reveal about parental priorities? A Different Perspective Limited context may obscure deeper plot motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afternoon sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afternoon-sun/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ## Related quotes > [Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/never-shall-i-forget-the-little-faces-of-the-children-whose-bodies/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Hope is born again in the faces of children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/hope-is-born-again-in-the-faces-of-children/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“Hope is born again in the faces of children. It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets. Hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/hope-is-born-again-in-the-faces-of-children-it-rides-on-the-shoulders/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I don't know if I can change things but I just want to put smiles on the faces of the children. I cannot put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-chiellini/i-don-t-know-if-i-can-change-things-but-i-just-want-to-put-smiles-on/) [Giorgio Chiellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-chiellini/) > [“It would have made a nice painting, were someone to choose something as lowly as that to study. Another story, a story written in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/it-would-have-made-a-nice-painting-were-someone-to-choose-something/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [All the children had to wear a gas mask in case of a gas attack by the Germans. They tried to make the masks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-scarfe/all-the-children-had-to-wear-a-gas-mask-in-case-of-a-gas-attack-by/) [Gerald Scarfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-scarfe/) > [Time spent with your children is time wisely spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/time-spent-with-your-children-is-time-wisely-spent/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Good discipline requires time. When we have no time to give our children, or no time that we are willing to give, we don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/good-discipline-requires-time-when-we-have-no-time-to-give-our/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's absolutely crucial that every child-serving organization - be it an elementary school, daycare, or community center - provide its children with time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darell-hammond/it-s-absolutely-crucial-that-every-child-serving-organization-be-it/) [Darell Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darell-hammond/) > [It's nice not to have to talk about children all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-horne/it-s-nice-not-to-have-to-talk-about-children-all-the-time/) [Alex Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-horne/) > [Give your children all the time and energy. They need to be your number one priority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sridevi/give-your-children-all-the-time-and-energy-they-need-to-be-your/) [Sridevi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sridevi/) > [Time spent with children is time well spent. Their little minds are not constrained by 'reality' or focused upon goals. Anything and everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/time-spent-with-children-is-time-well-spent-their-little-minds-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them to identify their natural competencies and gifts, and cultivate those.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/we-should-spend-less-time-ranking-children-and-more-time-helping-them/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [After all, we are not children. It's time we planned our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-dayan/after-all-we-are-not-children-it-s-time-we-planned-our-life/) [Moshe Dayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-dayan/) > [We all become lost children at one time or another.When no one else can find us, we must find ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farland/we-all-become-lost-children-at-one-time-or-another-when-no-one-else/) [David Farland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farland/) ## More by Ann Shorey > [“We'll never travel far enough to flee from our sorrows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-shorey/we-ll-never-travel-far-enough-to-flee-from-our-sorrows/) [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) > [“I can understand not wanting to remain around sad memories. ... Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. Memories and all. ... Might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-shorey/i-can-understand-not-wanting-to-remain-around-sad-memories-wherever/) [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) > [“She'd done the right thing in God's eyes. That's all that mattered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-shorey/she-d-done-the-right-thing-in-god-s-eyes-that-s-all-that-mattered/) [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) > [“I trust God because of who he is, not because of what he does or doesn't do”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-shorey/i-trust-god-because-of-who-he-is-not-because-of-what-he-does-or-doesn/) [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) > [“Samuel said he was fixing to be gone a month.” “I worry something might happen to him.” “You’re borrowing trouble. Ain’t nothing ever happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-shorey/samuel-said-he-was-fixing-to-be-gone-a-month-i-worry-something-might/) [Ann Shorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) [Explore all 6 Ann Shorey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-shorey/) ## More Afternoon sun quotes > [“Raw Living: Picking blackberries, beneath late afternoon sun; a sunset reminiscent of watermelon sangria, as the scent of honeysuckle accosts me and the ducks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/raw-living-picking-blackberries-beneath-late-afternoon-sun-a-sunset/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [“There was no movement around the discoloured walls, and Lucy turned the Land Rover about in a slow crawl, the tires crunching on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-swallow/there-was-no-movement-around-the-discoloured-walls-and-lucy-turned/) [James Swallow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-swallow/) > [“ Benvenuta a la Via dell’Amore,” he says, poking a bright pink lock with Ashlee + Jake written on it in white paint. “What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-rae/benvenuta-a-la-via-dell-amore-he-says-poking-a-bright-pink-lock-with/) [Kristin Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-rae/) > [But they never last, the golden days. And it can be sad, the sun in the afternoon, can't it? 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In the dim, wavering light, a page hung open and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-book-alighted-almost-obediently-like-a-white-pigeon-in-his-hands/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The afternoon sunk into the tall grass growing on the roadside. The distant dome turned from coral to burnt umber, a final flash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rich/the-afternoon-sunk-into-the-tall-grass-growing-on-the-roadside-the/) [Megan Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rich/) > [The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain wisps of sea fog are stealing. 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All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/is-it-snowing-where-you-are-all-the-world-that-i-see-from-my-tower-is/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [“(visions) of strange cities, of sandy plains, of gigantic ruins, of midnight skies with strange bright constellations, of mountain-passes, of grassy nooks flecked with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-evans/visions-of-strange-cities-of-sandy-plains-of-gigantic-ruins-of/) [Mary Ann Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-evans/) > [“hooded against the afternoon sun that shone in his face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/hooded-against-the-afternoon-sun-that-shone-in-his-face/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“His skin radiates so much of the day's heat that touching him feels like wading into the lake, opening my hand, and catching one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-schindler/his-skin-radiates-so-much-of-the-day-s-heat-that-touching-him-feels/) [Holly Schindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-schindler/) [Browse all 57 Afternoon sun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afternoon-sun/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“before, has it?” Molly shook her head. “No. But I still want him home.” She smiled at the sight of her three children napping on a coverlet spread over the grass. 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