Mom could say that in hindsight, but it seemed to me that when you were in the middle of something, it was awful hard to figure out what part of it was God's will and what wasn't.

I wanted to let the world know that no one had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets.

[Optimism] acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.

One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.

Don't worry, God understands,' Mom said. 'He knows that your father is a cross we must bear.

I never had any question that my parents loved me. I had a real sense of self confidence.