I wrestle my fears with every big decision I make. Ultimately, maybe all that wrestling does is make you sick of your own thoughts, and so with nothing resolved you just go ahead and have unprotected sex. The moment I became pregnant, everything became out of gait. None of those fears seem relevant in the same way, and that's so like life, that once you do the daring move you're in a totally different landscape. Now it's a new story.

I had a joint once and I didn't feel right for a whole year

It occurred to me that everyone’s story matters to themselves, so the more I listened, the more she wanted to talk.

This person realizes that staying home means blowing off everyone this person has ever known. But the desire to stay in is very strong. This person wants to run a bath and then read in bed.

I really did not feel okay about any of this, and there was really nothing I could do about any of it.

It was a small thing, but it was a thing, and things have a way of either dying or growing, and it wasn’t dying.

He was worried she would not let him love her with the stain. He had already decided long ago, twenty or thirty minutes ago, that the stain was fine. He had only seen it for a moment, but he was already used to it. It was good. It somehow allowed them to have more.