Sometimes there aren't words. The silence between us is flung wide as an ocean. But I manage to reach across it, to wrap my arms around him.

Being a parent wasn't just about bearing a child. It was about bearing witness to its life.

When I was little I bragged about my firefighting father: my father would go to heaven, because if he went to hell he would put out all the fires.

The best place to cry is on a mother's arms.

People change, but only if you give them room to do it.

You don't make a friend," Jacob said with a scowl. "It's not like they come with directions like you'd find on a box of macaroni and cheese.

I watch her do the simplest things: brushing her hair into a ponytail, feeding the dog, tying Sophie's shoelaces, and I want to tell her what she means to me, but I never actually say the words. After all, to acknowledge Delia as a drug, I'd have to face the fact that one day I might have to go without her and this I can't do.