There were certain qualities you possessed carelessly. And you couldn't retrieve them when they were gone. The very act of caring made them impossible to regain.

Do you have any idea how much I've loved you?

Her vision of the world under the water represented a beautiful stillness, a version of heaven. It was the lost city of Lena, her alternate universe, the life she yearned for but didn't get to have.

Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.

He no longer represented someday a possibility. He represented a road not taken a road that suddenly shot so far into the distance she couldn’t see it anymore.

Every life I start with her, my original sin. I know myself through her.

It was their mothers, long ago. Tibby noted with joy that all four of them were wearing jeans.