Sylvie's way of life and outlook on life struck me as kind of admirable. Not that I'd like to be a person in her life, but that maybe having a little bit of her outlook in my life would probably relieve some of my stress. She kind of takes things as she goes and accepts whatever life throws at her. Life gives her lemons and she shrugs and eats them and is fine with it. It seems like the ultimate stress-free way to live, and that's super attractive as someone who is plagued by stress. However, there is a problem and I kind of foreshadowed it in the first sentence, as much as a paragraph can have foreshadowing; it's only good for yourself. For the people around you, apathy can become kind of horrible because it feels like you don't care about them. That's Lucille's problem with Sylvie; she thinks that Sylvie is apathetic towards the girls and feels she isn't cared for. Which is one of the worst feelings in the world, like when you're with a group of friends and it feels like it wouldn't matter if you were there or not. Just a really lonely feeling.
However, I don't think Sylvie's outlook on life is actually apathy, or at least not full-blown complete and total apathy. Sylvie is kind of just go-with-the flow taken to an extreme. It's clear that she does care about the girls. Why would she come back to Fingerbone if she was completely apathetic? If she truly didn't care, then she would have just kept moving with her life. It's not like Fingerbone is a big town either, and any harsh words that might be said about Sylvie would almost definitely never have any repercussions for her. She came back because she does care, she just doesn't know how. Why would she stay if she didn't care? Why would she do anything with the girls or try to play nice with them if she didn't care? She really isn't apathetic. She just doesn't know how to show that she cares. Her "go-with-the-flow" way of life and caring for others aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, as we can see at the end when Ruth goes with her.
I'm not saying that Sylvie's not to blame for Lucille leaving, however. Lucille desperately wanted someone stable in her life, and Sylvie definitely did not feel stable. Of course she left. She wanted to be cared for and Sylvie didn't make her feel cared for. This is the product of Sylvie's way of life being her double-edged sword - she clearly did care for Lucille, but the way that she cared for Lucille wasn't enough and it pushed her away.
I definitely agree with the idea that Sylvie really does care for the girls, it's just that she has no clue how to. She doesn't even know where her own husband is at, but she never divorced him or said she never loved him. She is encompassed in the transient mindset, and everyone/everything around her comes and goes like the wind. She is at peace with herself and who she finds herself around, but you're so right in saying that this isn't always how people feel around her. I think that she is trying, as she finds herself going through the motion of housekeeping but truly not knowing what she's doing, and I find that endearing of Sylvie, but not everyone can so easily accept so easily letting go of what they have/care about.
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