There are so many ways a family can unravel. All it takes is a tiny slash of selfishness, a rip of greed, a puncture of bad luck. And yet, woven tightly, family can be the strongest bond imaginable.

There were some people who hit your life so hard, they left a stain on your future.

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.

My mother moves so fast I do not even see it coming. But she slaps my face hard enough to make my head snap backward. She leaves a print that stains me long after it’s faded. Just so you know: shame is five-fingered.

That's the paradox of loss: How can something that's gone weigh us down so much?

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

You have everything. A family, a great job, a lot of people who look up to you. You've got a place to go home to. So go.