“I'm buying you a coat." And i meant it. I opened the car door and slung my lether jacket around her shoulders.”

“Best day of my life hasn't happened yet. But I know it. I see it every day. The best day of my life is the day I buy my mom a huge fucking house. And not just like out in the woods, but in the middle of Mountain Brook, with all the Weekday Warriors' parents. With all y'all's parents. And I'm not buying it with a mortgage either. I'm buying it with cash money, and I am driving my mom there, and I'm going to open her side of the car door and she'll getout and look at this house—this house is like picket fence and two stories and everything, you know—and I'm going to hand her the keys to her house and I'll say, 'Thanks.' Man, she helped fill out my application to this place. And she let me come here, and that's no easy thing when you come from where we do, to let your son go away to school. So that's the best day of my life.”

“I didn’t feel like buying him the jacket he asked for for Christmas, so I just got him a coat hanger with a sticky note attached that read, “Here’s something for you to hang your dreams on, pal.”

“If they had been riding in a car, she would have waited for him to go around and open the door for her, but riding in a truck is different”

“I tried opening the door to the car again, forgetting the darned thing would not open. “You need to get this door fixed,” I nagged. “It’s not broken, my lovely,” David grinned. “Then why won’t it open?” “Child locks to keep the princess from opening the door herself.” He gave me a crooked smile. “Oh,” I blushed.”

“I went back to the ocean for a wash. The salt stung my face. I didn't know my skin was so raw. I slung my backpack over my shoulders, and with the white mosquito netting wrapped around me like a wedding dress, I went back into the jungle.”