Those shining stars, he liked to point out, were one of the special treats for people like us who lived out in the wilderness. Rich city folks, he'd say, lived in fancy apartments, but their air was so polluted they couldn't even see the stars. We'd have to be out of our minds to want to trade places with any of them.

Things usually work out in the end." "What if they don't?" "That just means you haven't come to the end yet.

You didn't need a college degree to become one of the people who knew what was really going on. If you paid attention, you could pick things up on your own.

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

When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.

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

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