“I reached for Helen's hand, and felt her squeeze back, accepting that I would understand more than most the missing part of the human heart rendered by the absence of a mother and father.”

“I couldn’t possibly love you any more than I already do. Josephine, my heart resides with you forevermore.” He remembers the quote on the back of my mother’s watch. The same quote my father said to my mother. My heart squeezes painfully and I swear I could die of contentment.”

“He gave to Paige that last part of himself. The part of a male that became more than a lover, more than a heart mate. He gave her that primitive, possessive core that most men hold back. He gave her his being and he felt the momemt she gave to him. And they became more than just one.”

“I tried to take solace in Holiday, our dog. I missed him in a way I hadn't yet let myself miss my mother and father, my sister and brother. That way of missing would mean that I had accepted that I would never be with them again; it might sound silly but I didn't believe it, would not believe it.”

“No part of you is dark or ugly,' I said sharply, squeezing his hand. 'Not to me, not ever. Do you understand?”

“Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed- but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence”