Then she told me why a tiger is gold and black. It has two ways. The gold side leaps with its fierce heart. The black side stands still with cunning, hiding its gold between the trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come. I did not learn to use my black side until after the bad man left me.

On the third day after someone dies, the soul comes back to settle scores. In my mother's case, this would be the first day of the lunar new year. And because it is the new year, all debts must be paid, or disaster and misfortune will follow.

That is the nature of endings, it seems. They never end. When all the missing pieces of your life are found, put together with glue of memory and reason, there are more pieces to be found.

You must think for yourself, what you must do. If someone tells you, then you are not trying. -An-mei

Now they seemed to be in a contest over who could irritate her more, and she sometimes had to remind herself that teenagers had souls

I used to think that my mother got into arguments with people because they didn't understand her English, because she was Chinese.

Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.