I wondered about the explorers who'd sailed their ships to the end of the world. How terrified they must have been when they risked falling over the edge; how amazed to discover, instead, places they had seen only in their dreams.

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

All any of us wanted, really, was to know that we counted. That someone else's life would not have been as rich without us here.

How could I not have seen this coming, when I looked into your eyes and vowed to be with you forever?

I know what it's like to start something and have it suddenly grow out of control. And you want to get rid of it, because it's hurting you and everyone else around you, but every time you try to do that, it consumes you again.

There are certain things I do not talk about.

You know it's never fifty-fifty in a marriage. It's always seventy-thirty, or sixty-forty. Someone falls in love first. Someone puts someone else up on a pedestal. Someone works very hard to keep things rolling smoothly; someone else sails along for the ride.