I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.

Does trust have to be earned. Or is it simply a matter of faith?

The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever

If it came down to that, I'd protect you in a heartbeat.

And while he was doing those things, he thought about Allie and the love that was missing from both their lives.

No one in my family or my circle of friends had ever had to confront something like this. Jamie was seventeen, a child on the verge of womanhood, dying and still very much alive at the same time. I was afraid, more afraid than I'd ever been, not only for her, but for me as well. I lived in fear of doing something wrong, of doing something that would offend her. Was it okay to ever get angry in her presence? Was it okay to talk about the future anymore?

No drowning man can know which drop of water his last breath did stop.