Diane Hammond

“Why did we divorce? I guess you could say we had trouble synchronizing. You know that carnival ride where two cages swing in opposite directions, going higher and higher until they go over the top? That was us. We passed each other all the time, but we never actually stopped in the same place until it was time to get off the ride.”

“I'll be singing hymns to the rafters, be praising His goodness so loud they're going to have to turn down the volume in Heaven.”

“Harriet loved her new persona. As Maxine, she was courageous and accomplished, a woman of sophistication equally at home in Cannes or on the Indian subcontinent. As Maxine she didn't walk, she strode; she did not merely see, but beheld. The very air she breathed was bracing. Here was a conqueror of worlds.”

“Well, yelling real loud, that's an important skill to have, too. You never know when you might walk right in front of a train and her yelling's all that stands between you and eternity. But for that yell, you'd be flat, and there's nothing worse than a flat boy, just kind of ruins the day for everyone.”

“They also learned that not everything broken could be fixed, and that not everything ruined cold be thrown away. Sometimes the damaged things were all you had to work with.”

“You help yourself to a hug whenever you want one, sugar. They're warm, and they're free.”