Aaron Tracy

She has five kids.

Five.

And not that far apart in age.

I don't know anyone with more than three children.

Five must feel like 500.

And she has a giant career.

Let's give the lady a break.

By all accounts, it does seem that Dahl is doing his share with the kids.

Or at least his share for a father in that era.

With all the negative things Neil has to say about her husband in her memoir, and there's a lot, she really does have nice things to say about him as a father.

After their rocky start, Dahl and Neil slowly settle into family life.

They develop a nice routine, both continuing to work hard, relying on nannies, and totally smitten with their kids.

Neil, despite her body in a constant state of creation and recovery, works a ton, making her three greatest movies, in fact.

Life is good.

They've settled into a rhythm.

But the biggest tragedy of Dahl's life is about to occur, followed by another, followed by one more, all involving the brain.

And it's followed by an epic amount of career success.

It's the stuff of TV melodrama, which it's actually about to become.

Dahl has been tested many times over the years, but this next period of his life is going to be way more intense than anything.

It also may be what turns him into the writer he was always meant to be.