“Everett thought about it for a minute before he answered. "I go on with my life. I keep coming to meetings. And I love her forever.”

“I'd never reacted to a girl this way before. My body was on fire when I was around Rose, and when I wasn't with her, all I did was think about her. Today had been the longest day of my life, dragging on forever until it was finally time to go meet her in the field.”

“Tell me something good about your life," I whispered, needing to hear that he wasn't as broken as I thought him to be.Peter breathed into the handset for about two minutes. I began wondering if he was about to hang up, or had fallen asleep, when he answered. "You." It was so quiet I almost didn't hear it. And then he hung up before I could ask him to repeat himself.I fell asleep, grinning, with the phone still clutched in my hand and my milk souring on the coffee table.”

“Papa, do you like my new friend?" Frances Catherine asked when they were halfway across the field."I surely do.""Can I keep her?""For the love of...No, you can't keep her. She isn't a puppy. You can be her friend, though," he hastily added before his daughter could argue with him."Forever, papa?"She 'd asked her father that question, but Judith answered her. "Forever," she shyly whispered.Frances Catherine reached across her father's chest to take hold of Judith's hand. "Forever," she pledged.”

“Dahlia, I will love you forever." Then I kiss her and finish telling her my thoughts. "In this lifetime and in the next.”

“Before I succumbed to the sweet lull of his voice, I made one last request. "Stay".I was asleep before he could answer, but in my dreams I heard him reply forever.”