“I remember the time I was kidnapped and they sent a piece of my finger to my father. He said he wanted more proof.”

“...he enclosed pieces of string that he used to measure out his body--his head, thigh, forearm, finger, neck, everything. He wanted me to sleep with them under my pillow. He said that when he came back, we would remeasure his body against the string as proof that he hadn't changed.”

“After a few years of not talking, I tried reaching out to my father, but by that time he was already a few inches beyond my outstretched fingers.”

“I couldn’t possibly love you any more than I already do. Josephine, my heart resides with you forevermore.” He remembers the quote on the back of my mother’s watch. The same quote my father said to my mother. My heart squeezes painfully and I swear I could die of contentment.”

“The fingers of his free hand work their way into my hair and tilt my head to the side as he deepens the kiss. He gets more aggressive, like he wants to gobble me up. And I want him to. God, I want him to.”

“It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”