Do you ever miss him? Every day. Every minute. Every minute, she says. Yes, it's that way, isn't it?

CLARE: The library is cool and smells like carpet cleaner, although all I can see is marble.

I sit quietly and think about my mom. It's funny how memory erodes, If all I had to work from were my childhood memories, my knowledge of my mother would be faded and soft, with a few sharp memories standing out.

I look at him, look at the book, remember, this book, this moment, the first book I ever loved

He made the boxes because he was lonely. He didn't have anyone to love, and he made the boxes so he could love them, and so people would know that he existed, and because birds are free and the boxes are hiding places for the birds so they will feel safe, and he wanted to be free and be safe. The boxes are for him so he can be a bird.

I won't ever leave you, even though you're always leaving me.

Everything seems simple until you think about it.