Why spend the afternoon making a meal that will be gone in an hour," she'd ask us, "when in the same amount of time, I can do a painting that will last forever?

Life's too short to care about what other people think. Besides, they should accept us for who we are

What I do know is that wondering why you survived don't help you survive.

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.

Why spend the afternoon making a meal that will be gone in an hour," she'd ask us, "when in the same amount of time, I can do a painting that will last forever?

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

But no matter how much planning you do, one tiny miscalculation, one moment of distraction, can end it all in an instant.