If you asked me, parents were supposed to affect the life of their child in such a way that the child grows up to be responsible, able to participate in life and in community.

Having a child as a single mother was a crucible - maybe this is true for all parents. I got rid of so much stuff that didn't really matter in the scheme of things-like throwing stuff out of an airplane that kept me flying too low. What was left was essential, i.e. not a lot of extraneous stuff that had kept me busy and people-pleasing. I just didn't have the luxury of wasting my life force on so much stupidity and distraction. That made me strong.

Toni Morrison said, "The function of freedom is to free someone else," and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do?

Toddlers can make you feel as if you have violated some archaic law in their personal Koran and you should die, infidel.

I was the angriest daughter on earth, and also, one of the most devoted.

Teenagers who do not go to church are adored by God, but they don't get to meet some of the people who love God back.

I remember staring at my son endlessly when he was an infant, stunned by his very existence, wondering where on earth he had come from.