Miles and years become suddenly invisible when you find yourself back where you started from, as if you've learned nothing and you are once again the person you once were.

I know what it is to hope and pray so hard that you're sure God will answer your prayer just so you'll stop asking.

But I think sometimes a person has to be forced underwater to see if they're going to drown or swim.

Every woman needs a daughter to tell her stories to.

Moving on doesn't mean forgetting.

Sometimes we make decisions because it seems to be the only path visible at the moment. It's only later that we see there was more than one path, but the others were blocked from our vision at the time. That's the thing with hindsight, you see. Even if you can see it clearly, there's no going back. It's at that point we need to turn around and stare ahead and make a new life.

Death and loss, they plague you. So do memories. Like the Mississippi's incessant slap against the levees, they creep up with deceptive sweetness before grabbing your heart and pulling it under.