And in my mind, this settles the issue. I would never drink cologne, and am therefore not an alcoholic.

There is no such thing as too ordinary to write about, whether that's life or a scene in a novel. What's interesting to people, whether it's memoir or fiction, is the truth.

I wouldn't want to waste any of my brain cells on forgiving if it's holding me back.

Tracy, the leader of the CDH group, looks at me with eyes that seem to belong to someone three times her age. It's something beyond wisdom, all the way to insanity and back. It's like her eyes are scarred from all the things she's seen.

No matter your spiritual beliefs, if you hold any, the answer is the same: sometimes, why is not knowable. If you open the refrigerator door and a tub of Kozy Shack tapioca pudding tumbles out and splats open onto the floor, you clean it. You don’t stand there and question why it happened, how it was possible. Why doesn’t matter now.

Part of me believes that love is more valuable when you have to work for it.

It's weird - sort of not terribly wise - to take a book that was successful and then change its cover.