“This was not a good idea coming home for Christmas. I'm too old. Years ago, coming back from schools or trips, I always expected some sort of new perspective or fresh insight about the family on returning. That doesn't happen anymore-the days of revelation about my parents, at least, are over... its time to move on. I think we'd all appreciate that.”

“I tell him about ... Jack and Annabel, smart and ready and I'm wondering where all that smart comes from and I figure some from parents, some from school, and some from a place inside you.”

“I always think the best thing about high school is that it's so many years ago.”

“Everybody that went away suffered a broken heart. "I'm coming back some day," they all wrote. But never did. The old life was too small to fit anymore.”

“My boys don't always come home from school ready to dish about the day. But if I'm patient, little details will reveal themselves to me. When I check the pockets, I get a peek into my boys' minds, an idea of what they consider amazing and lovely--what they consider to be a thing of beauty. I feel lucky to get a glimpse of this beauty every day.”

“Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated.Children come back from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone.”