Strange about parents. We have such easy access to them and such daunting problems of communication.

Merrill points to a paradox at the heart of family life: parents are physically and socially “close”—reachable by phone, address, obligation, and memory—yet emotionally difficult to speak with honestly. The “easy access” suggests familiarity and entitlement (we can call, visit, ask), while the “daunting problems of communication” acknowledges generational distance, unspoken histories, and the high stakes of parental relationships. The line captures how intimacy can intensify misunderstanding: because parents matter so much, ordinary conversation becomes charged with expectation, guilt, or fear of disappointment. It also hints at the asymmetry of knowing—children may feel perpetually untranslated in the presence of those who raised them.