“To the newcomer to the south, hearing that a coworker plans a weekend visit to 'mama and them's' (the correct plural possessive, don'tchaknow), might make him think that mama has been left alone either throught an act of scoundreldom involving the town's resident hoochie-mama (an altogether different kind of mama) or Daddy's untimely demise.”

“I thought about the difference between a mama's girl and a daddy's girl. I decided that a daughter who belongs to her daddy expects gifts, while a daughter who belongs to her mama expects a lot more. Not from her mama. From herself.”

“I spent the whole morning looking at him. He looked at Mama. Mama looked at me. Then he would look at me. I would look at Mama. She would look at him. In different circumstances, I'd be amused.”

“Finally he said, "I am sorry for it. His mama didn't teach him right." My mama didn't teach me right either, I thought, and I don't act that way. I kept rocking.”

“You can be a mama's boy, be a daddy's boy, but you can't be both. So you cling to the one you think you might lose.”

“Mama--Mama--I want so many things... I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy...”