“I wish our love was right now.”

“Whaddaya want?" growled Viola, our small, surly, octogenarian waitress.What did I want? A job. A clue. A love."Two coffees," Len answered for me.Coffee would do for now, I guess.”

“I pray that it will be different when they're our age. I pray for a cure to the Virus so they can choose not to share their bodies before they're ready. I pray that they will have the power to choose when and how they will marry, make love, make babies. And I pray that they will not be judged if they choose not to do those things in the "right" order....My sister and I close our eyes. We dream of a better world. We imagine what we can - and will - do to make it possible.”

“I need to be more in the moment, like when I was wet and wild in the waves. Being in the moment—right now!—equals freedom. It can't be scrutinized, analyzed, rhapsodized, mythologized. Itcan't be desecrated, debated, prognosticated. Right now can only be lived. Isn't this the same message Itried to get across to the kiddies in the lecture that got me fired? Isn't this the same advice Gladdie gave me right before she died?Why is it that the most fundamental life lesson—LIVE!—is the one I continually forget to put into practice?”

“I just don't see the point in beating myself up. I think it's more productive to concentrate on being a better person right now than punishing myself for who I was in the past.”

“I love you, too."But this hopeful farewell does little to bring peace of mind, even now. Loving you has never been the problem. What's troubling me is how loving you may never be enough.”

“Right now I feel guilty to be alive. Why? Because I’m wasting it. I’ve been given this life and all I do is mope it away.What’s worse is, I am totally aware of how ridiculous I am. It would be a lot easier if I believed I was the center of the universe, because then I wouldn’t know any better NOT to make a big deal out of everything. I know how small my problems are, yet that doesn’t stop me from obsessing about them.I have to stop doing this.How do other people get happy? I look at people laughing and smiling and enjoying themselves and try to get inside their heads. How do Bridget, Manda, and Sara do it? Or Pepe? Or EVERYONE but me?Why does everything I see bother me? Why can’t I just get over these daily wrongdoings? Why can’t I just move on and make the best of what I’ve got?I wish I knew.”