“No, she was just a woman. And that meant she could feel, she could need, she could give and she could receive.”
“This woman is American, but she speaks with no regional accent. She could be from anywhere. She could be anyone.”
“She needed care and time; enough space not to feel threatened, but not so much that she could retreat.”
“She only felt that the candle would burn better, the packing go easier, the world be happier, if she could give and receive some human love.”
“She felt as if she bled her regret and loneliness from her very pores, and yet she could not shape those feelings into any sentiment she could imagine her parents could bear reading.”
“If she could give love to IT perhaps it would shrivel up and die, for she was sure that IT could not withstand love.”