Marilyn is the matriarch of the Sorenson family. She and David marry young, and the rest of her life is consumed with raising her family. Despite having career ambitions, she drops out of school when it proves to be too difficult to juggle with caring for a growing family. She plans to return to school someday, and her daughters sometimes silently judge her for not doing so, but she never finishes her degree.

When her children are young, Marilyn is frequently overwhelmed by their needs and her husband’s. She loves her entire family immensely and tells her daughters she loves them as much as she loves their father, but they never believe her. They do not begrudge her for this love, as they see their parents’ relationship as a gift to them, but they also feel like it is something they can never live up to. Marilyn is constantly aware of how much she loves David, but as they age, she realizes that she does not need him in order to survive in the world—her daughters are grown, and she has started a career running a hardware store. Despite her deep love for her husband, she does resent him at times during the hard years of raising a family, but she cannot imagine life without him.