She had never been a pretty crier. She sobbed the way she did everything else - with passion and excess.

and another claimed it was inherited through a parent who was a carrier of the defective gene. I had always assumed the latter was the case with Claire. After all, surely a child who grew out of grief would be born with a heavy heart.

What could you give me," I ask, my voice shaking, "to make me forget ... that you forgot about me?

You could only save someone that wanted to be saved; otherwise, you'd be be dragged down for the count, too.

Traveling is all very well and good as long as you knew there is a place or person you can call home

Maybe Fate isn't the pond you swim in but the fisherman floating on top of it, letting you run the line wild until you are weary enough to be reeled back in.

I wonder if what makes a family a family isn't doing everything right all the time but, instead, giving a second chance to the people you love who do things wrong.