“Rose was so full of life and passion that sometimes she seemed more human than I was.”

“Sometimes it seemed that the human heart, this side of Eden, feared life more than death, light more than darkness, freedom more than surrender.”

“He wondered why it was easier to believe in a malevolent spirit than in a benign one. Sometimes it seemed that the human heart, this side of Eden, feared eternal life more than death, light more than darkness, freedom more than surrender.”

“Now looking across my latte at this confident smiling Starbucks employee I felt sorry for myself. She seemed carefree to me so young so full of options. Later I would learn that she had seen more hardship in her life than I could conceive of having seen in three lifetimes.”

“To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.”

“Theta loved pretty things more than air or food. She had a deep fondness for full red roses, pink shells, and starry sunsets.”