“I met a girl in a U-Haul.A beautiful girlAnd I fell for her.I fell hard.Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way.Life definitely got in my way.It got all up in my damn way,Life blocked the door with a stack of wooden 2x4'snailed together and attached to a fifteen inch concrete wallbehind a row of solid steel bars, bolted to a titanium frame thatno matter how hard I shoved against it-Itwouldn'tbudge.Sometimes life doesn't budge.It just gets all up in your damn way.It blocked my plans, my dreams, my desires, my wishes,my wants, my needs.It blocked out that beautiful girlThat I fell so hard for.Life tries to tell you what's best for youWhat should be most important to youWhat should come in firstOr secondOr third.I tried so hard to keep it all organized, alphabetized,stacked in chronological order, everything in its perfect space,its perfect place.I thought that's what life wanted me to do.This is what life needed for me to do.Right?Keep it all in sequence?Sometimes, life gets in your way.It gets all up in your damn way.But it doesn't get all up in your damn way because itwants you to just give up and let it take control. Life doesn't getall up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it allover and be carried along.Life wants you to fight it.It wants you to grab an axe and hack through the wood.It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break throughthe concrete.It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metaland steel until you can reach through and grab it.Life wants you to grab all the organized, thealphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you tomix it all together,stir it up,blend it.Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your littlebrother should be the only thing that comes first.Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your careerand your education should be the only thing that comes insecond.And life definitely doesn't want meTo just let it tell methat the girl I met,The beautiful, strong, amazing, resilient girlThat I fell so hard forShould only come in third.Life knows.Life is trying to tell meThat the girl I love,The girl I fellSo hard for?There's room for her in first.I'm putting her first.”

“Sometimes life gets in your way. it gets all up in your damn way. But it doesn't get all up in your damn waybecause it wants you to just give up and let it take control. Life doesn't get all up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it all over and be carried along. Life wants you to fight itLearn how to make it your own. it wants you to grab and axe and hack through the wood. It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break through concrete. It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metal and steel until you can reach through and grab it. Life wants you to grab all the organized, the alphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you to mix it all together, stir it up, blend it.”

“And life definitely doesn't want me To just let it tell me that the girl I met,The beautiful, amazing, strong, resilient girl That I fell so hard forShould only come in third Life knows. Life is trying to tell neThat the girl I love The girl I fellSo hard for?There's room for her in first. I'm putting her first.”

“She paused and seemed on the verge of getting emotional. "The hard part was that none of my early jobs taught my girls anything about work other than the fact that you have to do it. Now my girls see that if you don't give up on what you really want, work doesn't have to just be drudgery. You really can find something you love, and all of a sudden your life isn't just about finding a way to get to the weekend. You can love the work week just as much.”

“It's my life, I'll believe what I want to believe. It's your life, you believe what you want to believe. That doesn't mean we can't get along.”

“Why you frettin', Jo? You not sure?"I inhaled my tears in order to speak. "I'm sure I want to go, but I'm not sure it's possible.Why would they accept me? And if they did, how would I pay for it? I don't want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed. I'm always disappointed.""Now don't let fear keep you in New Orleans. Sometimes we set off down a road thinkin' we're goin' one place and we end up another. But that's okay. The important thing is to start. I know you can do it. Come on, Josie girl, give those ol' wings a try.""Willie doesn't want me to.""So what, you gonna stay here just so you can clean her house and run around with all the naked crazies in the Quarter? You got a bigger story than that.”