I think there are two different oceans - the one that plays with you in the summer, and the one that gets so mad in the winter.

Risk always looks different when you're beating the system than when you've been beaten.

Witness testimony is always flawed. It's better than circumstantial evidence, sure, but people aren't camcorders; they don't record every action and reaction, and the very act of remembering involves chosing words, actions and images. In other words, any witness who was supposed to be giving a court facts is really just giving them a version of fiction.

Traveling is all very well and good as long as you knew there is a place or person you can call home

Like the teens I worked with, I understood the need for miracles--they kept reality from paralyzing you

She thought of death like the seam of a hem: each time you lose someone close, it unraveled a little. You could still go along with your life, but you'd be forever tripping over something you previously took for granted.

Do you know how sometimes - when you are riding your bike and you start skidding across sand, or when you miss a step and start tumbling down the stairs - you have those long, long seconds to know that you are going to be hurt, and badly?