“Upstairs Margaret said abruptly, 'I suppose it starts to happen first in the suburbs,' and when Brad said, 'What starts to happen?' she said hysterically, 'People starting to come apart.”

“Then I said something. I said, Suppose, just suppose, nothing had ever happened. Suppose this was for the first time. Just suppose. It doesn't hurt to suppose. Say none of the other had ever happened. You know what I mean? Then what? I said.”

“Lily," Mom said, "we need to talk."I don't think I'm ruining the surprise by pointing out that nothing good happens when someone starts a speech like that.”

“Out there things can happen, and frequently do,To people as brainy and footsy as you.And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.Just go right along, you'll start happening too!”

“i want to hear what's happened to you," she said evenly after a while. she gestured in the direction, down river, of the butcher shop. "it's just that there is nowhere else to start," she said gently. "niether of us is the same. but i'm different because of small, good, manageable things. you're different because ... things i don't know.”

“I said I loved her. That was when all the problems started”