“I knew we had to celebrate, not the breakup of a marriage, but a woman prepared to be brave.”

“She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.”

“Being laughed at is excellent preparation for marriage.”

“It was a great story and I admired her. And I also felt a little envious. Because that bloody tampon had been a secret weapon. And every woman had one. But only a woman like Debby would be brave enough to use it.”

“He had never thought in his wildest imagination of marriage as an option forhim. Never believed there was a woman out there that would make him sign up for that particular brand of madness. And, in the abstract at least, it still sounded like madness but this wasn’t about marriage, it was about Riley. With her, he knew that boyfriend-girlfriend shit wasn’t going to be enough. He had to have her locked down.”

“The stronger a woman gets, the more insecure the men in her life feel. It doesn’t work that way for a woman. We celebrate strength--in our partners as well as in ourselves.”