Forgiveness is spiritual. Punishment is legal," Leo says. "They're not mutually exclusive.

Things that break - be they bones, hearts, or promises - can be put back together but will never really be whole.

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.

When you showed someone how you felt, it was fesh and honest. Whe you told someone how you felt, there might be nothing behind the words but habit or expectation.

This was something she would keep hidden within herself, maybe in place of the knot of pain and anger she had been carrying under her breastbone...a security blanket, an ace up her sleeve. She might never use it, but she would always feel its presence like a swelling secret stone, and that way when she let go of the rage, she would not feel nearly as empty.

Happiness is what you choose to remember.

History could hover, like a faint perfume or a memory stamped on the back of one's eyelids.