“Who has ever deserved anything they've been given? Love isn't about deserving,cara mia. It's about giving. And accepting. And sharing. The most worthy heart is also the most courageous.”

“Your past is not as important as your future. Did you know that? Can't change anything about what you've been, but you can change who you'll become.”

“It was about sharing our lives. Building a dream. Starting a family. Together. It was about life being so much richer, so fuller, just because you were at my side.”

“Maybe what God had done was give her a great gift. She'd come to this country helpless and friendless. She'd been given both friends and a family”

“But if it wasn't you, then who would I dream about?”

“When I was a child, Mama had the best voice of all the members of the church. She had loved to sing. Her words had soared like an angel's over the swells of the organ. In fact, I now suspected, her entire theology had been taken from the hymnal.”

“Love doesn't make you run away. Love makes you come back.”