“Leanne," he said. "I would never forget you. I'd forget who I am before I'd forget you.”

“He said, 'Charlie, how would you treat people if you knew you didn't have to fix them? If you knew that was God's job, and all He was asking of you was show them His love, maybe tell them some things He wanted them to know?”

“Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave.”

“I love you so much, so incredibly much," he went on, "and I forget when you're close to me, I forget who you are. I forget that you're Jem's. I'd have to be the worst sort of person to think what I'm thinking right now. But I am thinking it.”

“One of the things I am very aware of not having in my life is the love of my father. ...but I know now that it is hard to make up that loss in the life of a daughter.It's your dad who tells you that you are beautiful.Its your dad who picks you up over his head and carries you on his shoulders.It's your did who will fight the monsters under your bed.It's your dad who tells you that you are worth a lot, so don't settle for the first guy who tells you you're pretty.”

“I'd been preparing myself to apologize. Forgive and forget, as Mom says. "Fuck you," I said.”

“You can only look forward to a South Dakota winter if, as with childbirth, remodeling a house, or writing a novel, you're able to forget how bad it was the last time.”