I am here to love you, to hold you in my arms, to protect you.

Richard...," Julie said, staring down at the open jewelry case in her hand. Inside was an ornate, heart-shaped locket supported by a gold chain. "It's beautiful. But... why? I mean, what's the occasion?" "No occasion. I just saw it and, well... I liked it. Or rather, I thought of you and knew you should have it.

That was the dirty secret associated with her past. Not that she'd been abused but that somehow she felt that she deserved it because she'd let it happen. Even now, it shamed her, and there were times when she felt hideously ugly, as though the scars that had been left behind were visible to everyone.

As hard as it was, as terrible and unfair as the way things turned out, i wouldn't have traded the few days i spent with him for anything

Regrets about the journey, maybe, but not the destination.

That's what courage is. If she weren't scared, she wouldn't need courage in the first place." -Jo

Life, I've learned, is never fair. If they teach anything in schools, that should be it.