It isn’t about being at the same school or the same town or even the same room. It’s about being together. Love is a choice you make.

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

She'd been criticized for holding the reins of parenthood too tightly, of controlling her children too completely, but she didn't know how to let go. From the moment she'd first decided to become a mother, it had been an epic battle.

Some stories don't have happy endings. Even love stories. Maybe especially love stories.

I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known.

When you're a mom, you learn about fear. You're always afraid. Always. About everything from cupboard doors to kidnappers to weather.

....both had learned that everything could change in an instant, and that the heartfelt vows of people in love were fragile words that, once shattered, could cut so deeply you'd bleed forever.