Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.

A child embarrassed by his mother,” she said, “is just a child who hasn’t lived long enough.

Young men go to war. Sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they want to. Always, they feel they are supposed to. This comes from the sad, layered stories of life, which over the centuries have seen courage confused with picking up arms, and cowardice confused with laying them down.

But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin.

Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all.

Detroit is a place where we've had it pretty tough. But there is a generosity here and a well of kindness that goes deep.

For as spiritual as some people think my books are, I've never really dealt with religious things.