“christmas is a time when you get homesick-even when you're home.”

“With me and India it's all about leaving and returning. Madras is home. It's a very complicated relationship. When you are away too long you get homesick, and when you are there too long you are sick of home.”

“It is possible to be homesick for a place even when you are there.”

“But to be a parent is to live in the past-present-future all at once. It is to hug your children and be intensely aware of how much smaller they felt last year ... even as you wonder how much bigger they will feel the next. It is to be a time-shifter, to marvel at the budding of their intellect, their verbal dexterity, their sense of humor ... at the same time rewinding and fast-forwarding ... to when they were younger, to when they'll be older. It is to experience longing for the here and now, which I know sounds flaky - sort of like complaining about being homesick when you're already home - but can happen, trust me, when you live in multiple time zones all at once.”

“When we get home, I'll make you some soup or something.""God. Don't be nice.""All right." Jeff spoke softly into the darkness. "When we get home, I'll make some soup, and when you're not looking, I'll spit in it.”

“You gotta show kids YOU'RE not scared (even if inside at times you are) and when you show you're not afraid of the "monsters" then they too will stand up even when the lights are off.”