Write what's up there." Sister Ignatius pointed at her temple. "As a great man once said, this is a secret garden. We've all got one of those." "Jesus?" "No, Bruce Springsteen.
Cecelia AhernElizabethโs hands flew to her mouth; tears filled her eyes with happiness as she realized he was fulfilling yet another of her and her motherโs intended activities. โWhy are you fulfilling all of my motherโs dreams?โ she asked, studying his face and searching for answers. โSo you donโt run away like she did in search of them,โ he replied, taking her hand. โCome on, join in!โ he said, leaping around.
Cecelia AhernThereโs something completely unnerving about seeing your parents upset. I suppose itโs because theyโre supposed to be the strong ones, but thatโs not just it. Ever since people are kids they use their parents as some sort of measurement for how bad a situation is. When you fall on the ground really hard and you canโt figure out whether it hurts or not you look to your parents. If they look worried and rush toward you, you cry. If they laugh and smack the ground saying โBold ground,โ then you pick yourself up and get on with it.
Cecelia AhernOur life is made up of time; our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by years. We grab a few quick minutes in our busy day to have a coffee break. We rush back to our desks, we watch the clock, we live by appointments. And yet your time eventually runs out and you wonder in your heart of hearts if those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades were being spent the best way they possibly could. In other words, if you could change anything, would you?
Cecelia AhernWhen something tragic has happened, you'll find that you, the tragicee, become the person that has to make everything comfortable for everyone else.... As a tragicee and future divorcee, you'll also find that people will question you on the biggest decisions you've ever made in your life as though you hadn't thought about them at all before โ as though, through their twenty questions and dubious faces, they're going to shine light on something that you missed the hundredth time around during your darkest hours.
Cecelia Ahern