My head spins as I glance away, refusing to get sucked back into his gaze when so much is at risk.

A son is a son 'til he gets a wife, but a daughter is a daughter all her life.

I think the most well-adjusted people live in the present with an eye toward the future - I'm not among those.

As everyone applauds and sips champagne, I smile back at Rachel, thinking she got it just right. Love and friendship. They are what makes us who we are and what can change us, if we let them.

His loyalty, so fierce and unwavering, makes my eyes water and heart ache.

ONE MORE CHNCE. Words that my mother heard, more than once. Words that women debate. Whether you CAN forgive and whether you SHOULD trust. I think of all the judgment from society, friends, and family, the overwhelming consensus seeming to be that you should not grant someone who betrayed you a second chance. That you should do everything you can to keep the knife out of your back, and to protect your heart and pride. Cowards give second chances. Fools give second chances. And I am no coward, no fool.

I remember that my mother once told me that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.