“Losing a baby is not a thing that you could ever get used to, I don't believe.”

“...For having a baby's sweet face so close to your own, for so long a time as it takes to nurse 'em, is a great tonic for a sad soul.”

“...I understand what my body's for. My bosom is as deep as all the oceans and my hips as wide as the fields...”

“...you suffer the rich to do as they wish and hold the less fortunate to a higher standard. Tis unfair and tis the dirty part of the world that we all live in, but there it is just the same.”

“That's the difference between us {the poor} and them {the rich}, I thought. We know all of what's bad because we can't keep from it. They live in their big houses and the walls are thick enough around them to keep the bad out.”

“I don't think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am. I don't think you could ever know just how truly special you are that even on the darkest nights you are my brightest star”

“I used to know a sculptor... He always said that if you looked hard enough, you could see where each person carried his soul in his body. It sounds crazy, but when you saw his sculptures, it made sense. I think the same is true with those we love... Our bodies carry our memories of them, in our muscles, in our skin, in our bones. My children are right here." She pointed to the inside curve of her elbow. "Where I held them when they were babies. Even if there comes a time when I don't know who they are anymore. I believe I will feel them here.”