There's a problem with wounded birds, Cassie," Connor said. "Either they fly away from you one day, or else they never get better. They stay hurt no matter what you do.

Love was that way. You could not render it in black or white. It always came down to the strange, blended shades of grey.

That's the crazy thing about lies. You start to fall for them, yourself.

do you fix a wheel that isn't broken, or do you wait until the cart collapses?

What's worse ...? The devil you don't know ... or the devil you do?

Men. You can't live with them...and you can't legally shoot them. I tossed out my husband eight years ago and got a llama instead. Best decision I ever made.

You can argue that it's a different world now than the one when Matthew Shepard was killed, but there is a subtle difference between tolerance and acceptance. It's the distance between moving into the cul-de-sac and having your next door neighbor trust you to keep an eye on her preschool daughter for a few minutes while she runs out to the post office. It's the chasm between being invited to a colleague's wedding with your same-sex partner and being able to slow-dance without the other guests whispering.