The most important thing you leave behind is the stuff that turns into treasures when children find it

My grandma used to plant tomato seedlings in tin cans from tomato sauce & puree & crushed tomatoes she got from the Italian restaurant by her house, but she always soaked the labels off first. I don't want them to be anxious about the future, she said. It's not healthy.

There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same laughter & noise.

I am only strong enough for a life of partial virtue.

There are some days when no matter what I say it feels like I'm far away in another country & whoever is doing the translating has had far too much to drink.

I like geography best, he said, because your mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.

I don't blame you for everything, she told me. Just the stuff my friends & I can agree on.