A lady I will be, but a man's accessory, his handbag, no thank you. I will not be someone's ornament. I will not just be someone's honey, baby, sweetheart.

Fear was the biggest bullshitter, he’d said. But sometimes, too, fear told the truth.

But an apology too — you think you’re giving something, but you’re not. You’re really asking for something. You’re asking for forgiveness, you’re asking for the other injured person to make it okay for you. Apologies were harder work for the person getting one than the person giving one.

Hundreds,' Joe says. 'Hundreds and hundreds. But then again, I'm old.' So old, Jesus was in your math class,' I say. I crack myself up.

I began to learn the importance of lifting things up and looking underneath.

No one is ever quite as strong or as weak as you'd think.

I thought I might cry, the way you do when someone gives you some kindness when you most need it but when it seems the most surprising thing.