you ever think about the fact that mrs. ryland, mrs. eddleton, and mrs. van sicklen probably went to school with lydia?
well, maybe not—there's certainly the chance that they all didn't grow up in mount bedford. but considering the fact that they all have children samantha's age (sure, clarisse isn't confirmed to be mrs. van sicklen's daughter, but it is very likely), it goes to reckon that, if they have spent their entire lives in the town, they should be very close in age to lydia.
this is interesting in and of itself to me, but i also think it's also interesting to think about this in relation to grandmary. i've already gone on at length about grandmary and grief, so let's keep this post a little lighter: how absurd must it be for her to have to now socialize with women that she once knew as her daughter's schoolmates or friends?
i also think, if we're running with this theory, it offers a really good explanation about the social weight that grandmary throws around during the series. of course she's able to get mrs. van sicklen to offer jobs to nellie's entire family—she's known that women since she was in diapers. of course she’s able to talk back to them all when they’re scandalized about samantha’s friendship with nellie—what are they going to do, go up against a women that hosted them for birthday parties? nah, grandmary probably has sooo much dirt on them, and that in turn gives samantha social leverage that she’s not even aware of.
