“There are times in your life when, despite the steel weight of your memories and the sadness that seems to lie at your feet like a shadow, you suddenly and strangely feel perfectly okay.”

“You rejoice in your freedom, and you feel that at last you can call your soul your own. You seem to walk with your head among the stars. And then, all of a sudden you can't stand it anymore, and you notice that all the time your feet have been walking in the mud.”

“When you're a kid, if you watch 'The Jeffersons' with your family at seven o'clock, it seems like a natural phenomenon, like the sun setting. The universe is a strange, strange place when all of a sudden you can't use your glass with the Bionic Woman on it any more.”

“This is the strange thing about life after university. It feels like you've just fallen off a conveyor belt of nonstop academic landmarks, and are launched in one fell swoop into the rest of your life. It's suddenly up to you, and not your tutors or your parents.”

“It feels strange to be ignored in general, but when someone who was once an integral part of your life fades away, what are you left with? Sadness? Disallusionment? Hope? Surreal...”

“You walk around feeling like a teenager and immortal your whole life, and suddenly there isn't much time left.”