“Are you a man?'' The question slipped out, and she regretted it. Regretted injecting reality into this delicate, lovely dream of passion. ''I thought I had conclusively proved my manhood to you. Shall I do it again?”

“Mom?” I say as I slip on my boots. “I know you were only eighteen when you met Dad. I mean, that’s really young to meet the person you spend the rest of your life with. Do you ever regret it?”She doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she lies back on my bed and clasps her hands behind her head, pondering my question.“I’ve never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted.""Is there a difference?” I ask.“Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It’s looking back on a past that you can’t change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. I questioned a lot about my relationship with your father. People make spontaneous decisions based on of their hearts all the time. There’s so much more to relationships than just love.”

“In my flowery dreams there's always you. I do not regret it one bit.”

“Do you regret those days?''No,' replied Marcelle acidly: 'but I regret the life I might have had.”

“I SHALL WIN!" She exclaimed. "You'll see! When the smoke of battle clears away I shall be a rainbow again--and, undying name--an altar of fire that you have tried to dash to hell. I shall weave a rose wreath and hang it round your neck. You will call it a yoke of bondage and curse it--no matter. You are afraid of the light I give you. You crouch in the darkness. Come, take my hand, I will lead you." And her valediction, intimating in its restraint whole words of love and grief and passionate regret, was, simply, Miriam.”

“I've never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted." "Is there a difference?" I ask. "Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on a past that you can't change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. I questioned a lot about my relationship with your father. People make spontaneous decisions based off of their hearts all the time. There's so much more to relationships than just love.”