“[Marriage] made the hard moments easier and the good moments better.”

“Life there was hard and it made people hard.”

“I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.”

“But no matter how much planning you do, one tiny miscalculation, one moment of distraction, can end it all in an instant.”

“Mom also hinted a couple of times that it was good I was going to college, since with one failed marriage behind me, I 'd have trouble landing a good husband and would need something to fall back on. "A package that's been opened once doesn't have the same appeal".”

“She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist - I helped her lace them up - but they had the effect of causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to breathe.”

“It's really not that hard to put food on the table if that's what you decide to do.”