After most deaths, I imagine, the awfulness lies in how everythingโs changedโฆ.thereโs a hole. Itโs person-shaped and it follows you everywhereโฆ. For us what was killing was how nothing had changed. Weโd been waiting to be transformed, and now here we were, back in our old life.
Elizabeth McCrackenFor some people, history is simply what your wife looks good standing in front of. Itโs whatโs cast in bronze, or framed in sepia tones, or acted out with wax dummies and period furniture. It takes place in glass bubbles filled with water and chunks of plastic snow; itโs stamped on souvenir pencils and summarized in reprint newspapers. History nowadays is recorded in memorabilia. If you canโt purchase a shopping bag that alludes to something, people wonโt believe it ever happened.
Elizabeth McCrackenYou can't out-travel sadness. I travel not to get away from my troubles but to see how they look in front of famous buildings
Elizabeth McCrackenCan I tell you something? It wasn't so bad. Not so bad at all right then, me scowling at the dirt, James in his bed, the way it always always was. Look, if that's all that happened, if his dying just meant that I would be waiting for him to say something instead of listening to him say something, it would have been fine.
Elizabeth McCracken