“I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there needs to be -- hold hands.”

“I can be your other hand when you need it.”

“Even at the age of eight she would fall asleep by pressing one hand into the other and making believe she was holding the hand of the man whom she loved, the man of her life. So if in her sleep she pressed Tomas hand with such tenacity, we can understand why: she had been training since childhood.”

“When Jack Burns needed to hold his mother's hand, his fingers could see in the dark.”

“I don't need anyone to hold me, I can hold my own.”

“And just holding her hand would be good. Can you understand that? Do you know that holding someone's hand can be `the' thing? Such a thing that your hands move while not moving. You can remember a thing like that, rather than any other thing about a night, all your life. Just holding hands can mean more, I believe it. When everything is repeated, and over, and familiar, it's the first things rather than the last that count.”