“At this stage of life, he'd better just lean into love, because if he fell, he feared he might break a hip.”

“He wasn't alive because he feared death. He was alive because he loved life.”

“But he'd never been in love. He knew that was what he was really asking himself. He'd never given himself to someone else completely. He'd always held something back, even if he hadn't known that he was doing it. He'd reserved the deepest part of him, the part that truly was him, because he'd feared that once he gave it away he would never get it back.”

“He was convinced he would keep his word. Not because he feared for his health, but because one cannot break a promise made to one's guardian angel. And he resumed the climb.”

“He whispered, breaking the silence because he could no longer bear it, daring to make a noise because a whisper was better than a scream”

“Last year when my grandma fell and broke her hip she couldn't paint her toenails anymore. So my grandpa started doing it for her, even after he fell and broke his hip, too. For me, that's love.”