I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures.

You can’t change the tale so that you turned left one day instead of right, or didn’t make the mistake that might have saved your life a day later. We don’t get those choices. The story is what got you here, and embracing its truth is what makes the outcome bearable.

Old dogs can be a regal sight. Their exuberance settles over the years into a seasoned nobility, their routines become as locked into yours as the quietest and kindest of marriages.

The truth, or success, of any writer's story lies partly in its specificity and its emotional honesty.

I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures.

What do you do when the story changes in midlife? When a tale you have told yourself turns out to be a little untrue, just enough to throw the world off-kilter? It’s like leaving the train at the wrong stop: You are still you, but in a new place, there by accident or grace, and you will need your wits about you to proceed.

the territory of grief ... is both cruel and commonplace.