She maintained a careful balance by her window, never allowing the men to come too close, never allowing them to stray too far.

The secret was a hole in the middle of me that every happy thing fell into.

Oh,' she said. 'I have never seen a Jew before. Can I see his horns?

I missed you even when I was with you. That’s been my problem. I miss what I already have, and I surround myself with things that are missing.

But I dig Negroes. I dig them all the way.

Mom told me, “It probably gets pretty lonely to be Grandma, don’t you think?” I told her, “It probably gets pretty lonely to be anyone

...he was leaving me. I wondered if I should stop him. If I should wrestle him to the ground and force him to love me. I wanted to hold his shoulders down and shout into his face.