“My heart feels not so much in my chest as in my hands. I am carrying it along swiftly, as though I have become the messenger for what is going on inside me.”

“I had a dream I put my hands inside my chest and held my heart to try to keep it still.”

“I set my hand on top of his and guide it to my chest, so its right over my heart. "Feel my heartbeat. Can you feel it?""Yes.""Feel how steady it is?""It's fast.”

“Inside me, there is an organ more important than my heart. Although you can't see it, I feel it going right through my head and down to my legs, and I know that it exists inside me. It's the one that lets me stand up and walk forward. So that I can walk forward, without ever trembling. If I stopped here I feel like it would break...My soul would break. Even more than if my heart stops beating, to me that is the most important. Even if I become senile and my back gets bent, I still have to walk forward.”

“For the first time, I don't feel the giant hands pressing around my heart. Instead, I feel weightless, as if someone has untied a knot inside me and I am slowly unfolding.”

“Evie's head is pressed tightly to my chest; I would pull her inside of me and have my heart beat for us both if I could.”