Not only did I avoid speaking of Salinger; I resisted thinking about him. I did not reread his letters to me. The experience had been too painful.

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.

She felt everything too deeply, it was like the world was too much for her.

Long after Salinger sent me away, I continued to believe his standards and expectations were the best ones.

Before I had children I always wondered whether their births would be, for me, like the ultimate in gym class failures. And I discovered instead... that I'd finally found my sport.

I compromised my ability to tell my story, at the most basic level.

A person who deserves my loyalty receives it.