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.
What they never tell you about grief is that missing someone is the simple part.
The real hell of this," he told her, "is that you're going to get through it.
Scratch a fantasy and you'll find a nightmare.
Like a starfish, the heart endures its amputation.
The truth, or success, of any writer's story lies partly in its specificity and its emotional honesty.