Discussion Questions

1. Can you relate to Sherry’s resistance to change? If so, did something happen in your life that made you that way?

2. Naomi has been there for Sherry all her life, so Sherry doesn’t have the heart to ask her to stop meddling. Is there someone in your life who seems to know you better than you know yourself?

3. Why do you think Sherry has such a difficult time with the idea of moving, even though her house is falling apart around her?

4. Small children often speak their minds, and Lacy did exactly that when she called Sherry the “old maid lady,” repeating what her mother had said during one of those frazzled moments moms experience. Have you ever been the object of a child’s faux pas? How did that make you feel? Was it worse or better coming from a child?

5. What do you think is the main theme of Waiting for a View? Sub-themes?

6. Brad has always been fond of Sherry, but he valiantly didn’t act on his feelings as long as his old friend Theo was in the picture and dating Sherry. What would you have done in his position?

7. Why do you think Brad didn’t pursue Sherry immediately after Theo left town and married someone else?

8. Sherry greeted her old boyfriend’s wife at the urging of Naomi. Have you ever had to face something from your past that made you very uncomfortable? Did the results make you glad you did it?

9. Something Sherry overheard Theo say devastated her. Have you ever jumped to conclusions when overhearing a snippet of a conversation?

10. Do you sit in the same pew at church? If so, why? If not, do you see things you missed from a different vantage point?

11. Naomi has always enjoyed being an integral part of young people’s lives. During the course of the story, she started transferring some of her helpfulness from Sherry to Lacy. Why do you think she does this? Is she missing something important in her own life?

12. When Sherry acknowledges all that Gina and Jeremy have overcome, her perspective in her own life changes. Have you ever experienced learning through observing other people’s hardships?

13. How does the contrast between the fresh, new apartment and the house Sherry grew up in compare to what is going on internally?

14. Did you notice that Naomi and Pamela schemed together, even though they normally didn’t get along? Have you ever had to work with someone you didn’t want to, only to discover you had more in common than you thought?