There's no way for them to take away my sadness, but they can make sure I am not empty of all the other feelings.

Danger comes in many forms, I suppose. For some people, it might be jumping off a bridge or climbing impossible moutains. For others, it could be a tawdry love affair or telling off a mean-looking bus driver because he doesn't like to stop for noisy teenagers. It could be cheating at cards or eating a peanut even though you're allergic. For me, danger might be getting out from the protective cloak of my family and venturing into the world more of my own, even though I don't know what- or who- awaits me.

And maybe it is only by finding yourself that you can feel the true intensity of becoming close to another person.

this is why we call people exes, I guess - because the paths that cross in the middle end up separating at the end. it's too easy to see an X as a cross-out. it's not, because there's no way to cross out something like that. the X is a diagram of two paths.

I still felt fondness for her - fondness, that pleasant, detached mix of admiration and sentiment, appreciation and nostalgia.

Magic naturally fades over distance. But proximity - well, when it works, proximity amplifies magic.

This, I think, is how people survive: Even when horrible things have been done to us, we can still find gratitude in one another.