Lisa Schroeder

“The stars are duller than an old pocket knife, they used to sparkle like five-carat diamonds.”

“Is being a jerk one of the five stages of grief?”

“Its like i was a garden salad with a light vinaigrette and Jackson was a platter of seafood Cajun pasta.Alone we were good.Together we were fantastic.”

“In that moment i realize a circle of love is ten times better than a procession of sorrys.”

“Memories might keep him alive but they might kill me.”

“Come with me,' Mom says.To the library. Books and summertimego together.”

“Thank you for a lullaby last night. Thank you for the boy who sang it.”

“She trusted him. She had faith in him. And he left her forever. Something tells me she's not forgetting that anytime soon.”

“My reflection tells one story. My heart, a different one. The difference is,hearts don't lie.Mirrors do.”

“You more than anyone should be in my dreams.”

“My heart breaks. Also not the first time. I long to go after him. To find himand hold himand kiss himin the loveliest of gardens.”

“I'm in a castlestanding in a tower,looking down through a windowat the beautiful garden,the sun setting in the distance. The beauty in the momentbrings tears to my eyes. Sky blue pink, the backdrop for roses in ever colorblooming in the garden.”

“I tell myself it will protect me. He will protect me.”

“Life is so freaking hard. How do people do it? How do people get up every day and deal with the shit? It really makes you understand why there are so many messed-up people in the world. I mean, it's tough, trying to deal with demands coming at you from all sides.”

“I write a note and tape it to my window--I'M NOT A DETECTIVE.BE SPECIFIC!”

“Joy, not sorrow.Laughter, not tears.Life, not death.Love, not blame.”

“I've realized therapy is incredibly therapeutic.”

“When you meet someone so different from yourself, In a good way, you don't even have to kiss to have fireworks go off. It's like fireworks in your heart all the time”

“If tears could bring him back, there'd be enough to bring him back a hundred times.”

“Music is so personal.”

“Okay.I will go.But only ifyou will give meyour guiltto takewith me.”

“Guilt reminds me of a stray cat. You chase it away and yet, it comes back when you least expect it. If you let yourself feel pity for it and feed the thing, it parks its ugly, puny, lonely-for-attention butt on your doormat and won't go away. Scat kitty cat, scat. I don't need you sitting around here like that.”

“I seered, burning lovedisappearforever.”