“I used to think that only death could take someone away from me, but I have learned so many lesser things could steal someone away. Just as completely; just as forever.”

“The one thing I’d learned was that having someone with you all the time did not take away the loneliness. You could be surrounded by people and be lonely. Something was missing. I could almost pinpoint it, but right when it was within my grasp I forgot; it just slipped away.”

“If I loved someone, I could never let him go away from me. I would be too miserable and lonely.”

“I am messaging you to say that I love you, and that you're completely wrong about me thinking you're stupid. I always thought you could teach me things. I was always waiting. You're not like the others. You say things that no one expects you to. You think you're stupid. You want to be stupid. But you're someone people could learn from.”

“I thought maybe I could just get away from everything. But you can't get away from a thing that's your own fault.”

“It was only then, raising my water glass in his name, that I knew what it meant to miss someone who was so many miles and hours away, just as he had missed his wife and daughters for so many months.”