“I am a romantic, but I do put up a barrier around myself, so it is hard for people to get in and to know the real me ”

“I am difficult to love, and I know it. I never learned the unconditional part, so trust evades me. Add sex and I fall apart, eventually retreating back into the swamp. Very few people can put up with me, and I can't blame them. I am a constant contradiction. I annoy myself.”

“I am a hopeless romantic. A silly, ridiculous, foolish romantic. I live in a fantasy land. I need to get real. And now, for the first time, I want to get real. I want a real relationship with a real man in the real world–-with all the real problems, faults, and whatever comes with it.”

“When I try to save other people am I trying to save myself? Am I covering up for my lack of strength by putting people back together?”

“So many thingsI know about myselfI've learned from others. Without someone else to listen, to judge, to tell me what to do, and choose who I am, do I get to decide for myself?”

“Do you know whether or not you are in God's grace?Joan: If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.”