She felt a cage coming down around her; too late she realized that he had her trapped by the heart. And like any unwilling animal that was well and truly caught, she could escape only by leaving a piece of herself behind.

Isn't it amazing how, when you strip away everything, people are so much alike?

If you want something to be true badly enough, you can rewrite it that way, in your head. You can even start to believe it.

Have a conversation with your family about your end-of-life wishes while you are healthy. No one wants to have that discussion... but if you do, you'll be giving your loved ones a tremendous gift, since they won't have to guess what your wishes would have been, and it takes the onus of responsibility off of them.

When someone loves you up one side and down the other like that, you make every effort to stick around.

When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself.

No matter who you are, there is always some part of you that wishes you were someone else, and when, for a millisecond, you get that wish, it's a miracle.