"The Three of Us"

As we dive deeper into Julia Blackburn's childhood we begin to learn a bit more about the little things that just helped her get through the day. As her parents become increasingly distant and her father grows in his addictions and violence, she finds friends in her animals. She says "Now, when I came home from school, my fear of what dramas might take place that night was balanced by the anticipation of being in the company of my bushbaby" (106). It is clear that she, as an only child with parents that were for the most part caught up in their own careers and troubles, desperately sought love and affection-something she found in this small animal. As many animal lovers have said, even when no-one else is there, your pet will be waiting for you when you get home, no critisizm or harsh words-just unconditional love. We see the depth of her connection with her bushbaby name Congo when she expresses her feelings after his death. She says "When I was told he was gone I felt as if I had lost my brother, my lover, my closest friends" (106). From this we see just how alone she was and how she longed for a companion. Just someone she could count on and who would care for her unconditionally.
After seeing how much she loves this small animal, the only true companion she has, there is a sad irony about the events that led to her father and mother's final separation. In 1961, after the death of her bushbaby, she finally got what she had always wanted-a dog! However, it turned out the dog was "too nice" and this disturbed her father so he began trying to literally make her dog meaner and unfortunatly-he succeded. This turned out to be the cause of the splitting of their family. The family was sitting down to lunch and Blackburn's father and mother were arguing as usual and when her mother set their lunch of hearts on the table, her father lifted them up and flung them at her mother. Of course, the dog went to grab the hearts as they fell to the floor. Seeing this, her father became furios at the dog and he "picked up a heavy mahogany doorstop, raised the weight above his head and prepared to smash it down on the dog's skull" (115). Luckly Julia was able to push her father over just in time to save the dog. Her father had actually tried to kill their small dog! This was the last straw, a few days later Julia's mother picked her up at school and announced that they would be staying with friends for a while-her and her father were getting a divorce.

Blackburn, Julia. The Three of Us: A Family Story. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008.