“He stood up, put the tree back under the grow light. 'There. That's what's going to happen to us. It's called grafting. Taking something from one place and fixing it to another until they grow together. We didn't start from the same tree, but we're going to grow together like we did.”

“Just like this, the kids we raised slowly start growing up and away from us. We have to gradually let go of their hands for them to grow... but as parents we're reluctant... because the instant of letting go is just too harsh. Even though deep down, we know that we have to let go one day.”

“We were supposed to grow old together, Dolores. Have kids. Take walks under old trees. I wanted to watch the lines etch themselves into your flesh and know when each and every one of them appeared. Die together.”

“When you are up against a wall, put down roots like a tree, until clarity comes from deeper sources to see over that wall and grow.”

“If two people are meant for one another, that doesn't mean that they have to rush and be together right away. Real love takes time to grow, just like how it takes time to grow from children to adults.”

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”