“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...”

“Go safely. Go safely, she thought to him. What a silly, empty thing it was to say to anyone, anywhere.”

“When you find someone who makes you smile andlaugh, when you find someone who makes you feel safe…you shouldn’t let that person go just because you’re afraid.”

“You realize that you habitually thought of Mom when something in your life was not going well, because when you thought of her it was as though something got back on track, and you felt re-energized.”

“It was like letting go and falling back into water and seeing yourself grinning up through the water, your face like a mask, and seeing the bubbles coming up as if you were trying to speak from under the water. And how do you know what it's like to try to speak from under water when you're drowned?”

“I’m always buried in something. But I love you. I try to listen to what’s going on. If you need me, just—bring in a bucket of water, or something. Well, not water around the computers. Maybe a cattle prod. No. Not around the computers . . ..” “Ice,” I said. “Down the back.”