The theme in Joy Williams' short story, "Taking Care," illustrates that we should periodically evaluate our relationships and not take any of them for granted. Jones, the main character of this story, is a local preacher. After his wife is taken ill and admitted to a hospital, it becomes necessary for Jones to take care of everything by himself. During this lonely time he is able to examine his life and he is forced to acknowledge the truth about his relationships with his daughter, his wife, and God.
             Jones reminisces about a time when he and his daughter were once close. They used to rake leaves together and play practical jokes on each other. "For years on April Fool's Day, she would take tobacco out of his humidor and fill it with cornflakes" (95) This joke may have been a way for his daughter to communicate to Jones that she did not like him smoking and wished for him to quit. Unfortunately Jones continued on in life without giving any thought to how his actions affected his daughter. With their relationship now strained at best, "Jones is full of remorse and astonishment. When he saw his daughter only a few weeks ago, she was thin and nervous. She had torn out almost all her eyebrows with her fingers from this nervousness. And her lashes. The roots of her eyes were white, like the bulbs of flowers. Her fingernails were crudely bitten, some bleeding below the quick." (95) She had numerous affairs with older men and this greatly disheartened Jones. Jones no longer knows how to talk with his daughter and it seems like all he can do is watch her life spiral further out of control.
             Jones' daughter has seen in the stars that she will have a nervous breakdown. This prompts her to leave her husband, hand over her baby and the dog to her father, and travel to Mexico to "meet" her fate. Jones agrees to watch after the baby and dog because "this seems to be the only thing his daughter needs from...