But parents, she supposed, were not the pinnacle of perfection their children thought or expected them to be. They were humans who usually did the best they could but often made the wrong choices.

If you have always suspected your sister of an inclination to madness, it will be my pleasure to confirm your worst fears.

One day you will learn that love does not always betray you.

Tears never were worth the effort of crying them.

Love does not last forever, then?" "He asked me the same thing this morning," she said. "No, it does not - not love that has been betrayed. One realizes that one has loved a mirage, someone who never really existed. Not that love dies immediately or soon, even then. But it does die and cannot be revived.

Perhaps she was just looking for love in the wrong places. In all the safe places. What if love was not safe at all?

Your sense of guilt will linger. It will always be part of you. but sharing it, allowing people to love you anyway, will do you the world of good. Secrets need an outlet if they are not to fester and become an unbearable burden.