I give thanks for all that has passed, for all that is passing, and for all that is yet to come.

The soldier had stamped my passport FAMILY in heavy black capital letters and I checked it now for reassurance and because I liked how fierce the word looked

The real truth is that the war didn't have much to do with it except that it provided a perfect limbo in which two people who were too young and too related could start kissing without anything or anyone making us stop.

My daughter is a fantastic travelling companion - she's totally organised, whereas I'm hopeless.

This was what happiness felt like - this wondrous, miraculous alternative to dread.

The average attention span of the modern human being is about half as long as whatever youre trying to tell them.

It was not a big smile, not particularly bold or polite or ironic or glib, not asking for anything or offering anything, not stringy or careless, not, in short, like any smile I had ever experienced before. But such a smile! You could burn a hole in the world with that smile.