“That's the problem with life. It rarely gives you neat decisions wrapped up in shiny paper with a bow on top. Most of the important decisions in life are messy.”

“All of us have a story like that one - some of us more than one. It's part of life and learning. Why, if babies stopped trying to walk the first time they fell down, the whole world would be full of people who crawled.”

“You can't recapture your past anymore than you can speed up your future. Stop lamenting summer and stop trying to hurry winter. Just enjoy the fall.”

“Sometimtes you don't even know what you really want until you get what you thought you wanted.”

“How does a whale know when to swim to warmer waters for winter? How do the fish know whe a predator is near? How do you know when love is real? You just know.”

“Grandmother," Ruth admonished. "I would not have a man who could not at least understand me.""And it looks like you might have finally fond one, heaven be praised." Ruth began to grow irritated. "Grandmother, I wish you would have more faith in me.""I do, dear; it's the men I worry about.”

“It's nine thirty as night, and it's still eighty-seven degrees outside. Besides, this is Southern California. When God makes it snow here, it's not a plan; it's a miracle.”