“It's not the fledgling birds that are thrown out of the nest by their parents and made to fly; it's the parents who are made to get the hell out of cozy family nest by their teenage offspring. It's we who are made to be independent of them, crash-landing if we don't manage it.”

“Motherhood isn't soft and cozy and sweet; it's selfish ferocity, red in tooth and claw.”

“I get up and pace the room, as if I can leave my guilt behind me. But it tracks me as I walk, an ugly shadow made by myself.”

“A child's body is so much a part of who they are; maybe because we can hold a little boy in our arms. We can hold the whole of him. But when we grow too large to be held our body no longer defines us”

“However hard and however long we love someone who has died, they can never love us back. At least that is how it feels...”

“But grief is the ultimate unrequited love. However hard and long we love someone who has died, they can never love us back. At least that is how it feels...”

“Bubonic plague is 'natural,' I snapped back. Doesn't mean it's good for you.”