“We just wanted to see how you were doing,' Asher said.'Well, that *is* a miracle,' said Perry. She took out her notebook and said out loud as she wrote, "Number forty: Campbell...has...friends.”

“Get used to that, Nana. He has a way of appearing out of thin air.''Oh my. Asher. Hm. Hm. Hm. Turn around. He's beautiful, Campbell. Are you schtupping my granddaughter?' she asked him.'No, ma'am.''Well, I give you my permission.'And just liked that, Cam's love life was ruined forever. If and when she ever 'schtupped' Asher, she'd have to do everything she could not to think of her grandmotehr.”

“Cam lifted the back of the U-Haul door to find Perry holding up a pair of Nana's enormous, silky white underpants.'Whoops,' said Cam. 'You'll have to make do.' And she shut the door, ignoring Perry's continued pounding on the side of the trailer.'I packed some cute stuff for her, too,' Asher said regretfully.”

“I just wanted to see if... we were okay," she said, feeling relief. "Just to make sure we can be friends. I don't want it to be weird, you know?" Friends? Different parts of Birdie died as she said it. It was like stars exploding and burning one by one. She wondered if this was part of getting older. Parts of your heart exploded and died.”

“My mom said she learned how to swim when someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.”

“Well, it's simple to love someone," she said. "But it's hard to know when you need to say it out loud.”