“By the River Piedra I sat down and wept. There is a legend that everything that falls into the waters of this river -- leaves, insects, the feathers of birds -- is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed. If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current, then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.”

“The pain was a river I rode; I could not plant my feet in it or it would knock me down”

“fate is strange..almost no one i know married the first love of their lives.but for those who did are always telling me that they missed soemthing important, that they didn’t experience all that they might have.."- by the river piedra i sat down and wept”

“Those who try to kill the body violate God's law. Those who try to kill the soul also violate God's law, even though their crime is less visible to others."By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”

“If only there were a river of courage, - Rahel whispered. I would bend down, cup the water in my hand and drink.”

“I imagine runningto the creek and diving in headfirst, the creek so shallow that my hands scrape against the rocks, and my bodyslides into the cold water, the shock of the cold giving way to numbness, and I would stay there, float down withthat water first to the Cahaba River, then to the Alabama River, then to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.”