Dad was a philosopher and had what he called his Theory of Purpose, which held that everything in life had a purpose, and unless it achieved that purpose, it was just taking up space on the planet and wasting everybody's time.

God deals us all different hands. How we play 'em is up to us.

Memoir is about handing over you life to someone and saying, This is what I went through, this is who I am, and maybe you can learn something from it.

Since Mom wasn't exactly the most useful person in the world, one lesson I learned at an early age was how to get things done, and this was a source of both amazement and concern for Mom, who considered my behavior unladylike but also counted on me. "I never knew a girl to have such gumption," she'd say. "But I'm not too sure it's a good thing.

That was the thing to remember about all monsters, They love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.

One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.

She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people.