Promises were a lot like impressions. The second one didn't count for much.

Books + friendship = book club

When you get . . . to the end, you see that love and family are all there is. Nothing else matters.

And maybe that was how it was supposed to be...Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps,was to let yourself feel all of it, but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly.

It was true; always had been. Friendships were like marriages in that way. Routines and patterns were poured early and hardened like cement.

Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. ‘Real hurts.’

I know about forgiving people and loving them anyway, even after they hurt you.