“Caro: "Bite me."Ruby: "I gave that up in kindergarten.”

“I prefer to scare myself in the ordinary ways, Daddy. Like letting my children cross the country for college. Why bungee jump when you can put a kindergartener on a school bus? Now, that's real terror.”

“Vietnam...war...it did something to us. Or maybe not. Maybe the bad seeds were always in me, and war gave them a dark place in which to grow.”

“Madelaine: I guess it's up to you to carve the turkey.Angel: Come on, bro, show me how to carve up this bird.Francis: Start at the breast, Angel. God knows, you should know how to do that.”

“Maybe time didn't heal wounds exactly, but it gave you a kind of armor, or a new perspective. A way to remember with a smile instead of a sob.”

“Hey, Meg," she said without preamble. I need you to write a letter of recommendation for me. I'm applying for grad school."Meghann screamed into the phone. "Oh, my God! I'm so proud of you. I'm hanging up now; I have to draft a letter that makes my best friend sound like da Vinci in a bra and panties.”

“It was the Magic Hour, the moment in time when every leaf and blade of grass seemed to separate, when sunlight, burnished by the rain and softened by the coming night, gave the world an impossibly beautiful glow.”