“I feel rotten but I can’t change the way I feel.”

“I wish I could take it all back, but I can’t. And I definitely can’t un-feel a feeling.”

“Because I feel no anger toward my mother. Only loss, and loss is a feeling you can’t fight your way out of as easily.”

“I know I can’t feel your touch, but I feel your love, Nora. Inside me. It means everything to me. I wish I could feel you the same way you feel me, but I have your love. Nothing will ever outweigh that. Some people go their entire lives never feeling the emotions you’ve given me. There is no regret in that.”

“But my feelings won’t abate. Feelings I’m not supposed to have. Feelings I can’t relinquish.”

“Robert, I’m sorry that you feel so strange, but I’m not sorry that you’re feeling it because of me,” I whispered, my heart feeling a familiar twinge as I continued, “but even if you hadn’t felt it, it would not change the way I feel about you.”