“I understand better than she'd imagine that history is indelible. You can mask it; you can patch it smooth and clear; but you always know what's hidden underneath.”

“You have to understand what you’re missing before you can really feel a loss.”

“I don't know whether you can look at your past and find, woven like the hidden symbols on a treasure map, the path that will point to your final destination.”

“Can you imagine what it would be like to know that your life was just going to be a series of days that were all the same, that were do-overs?”

“Your child is hurt. How quickly can you make it better?What if you can't?”

“anyone can understand anything. You just have to know how to present your information.”

“I have a sister, so I know-that relationship, it's all about fairness: you want your sibling to have exactly what you have-the same amount of toys, the same number of meatballs on your spaghetti, the same share of love. But being a mother is completely different. You want your child to have more than you ever did. You want to build a fire underneath her and watch her soar. It's bigger than words.”