Life is so extraordinary. Wonderful surprises are just around the most unexpected corners.

It was better not to get too close to another person. The closer you got, the more likely you were to get hurt.

Things happen they way they're meant to. There's a pattern and a shape to everything...Nothing happens without a reason...Nothing is impossible...(Page 180).

Grief was like a terrible burden, but at least you could lay it down by the side of the road and walk away from it. Antonia had come only a few paces, but already she could turn and look back and not weep. It wasn't anything to do with forgetting. It was just accepting. Nothing was ever so bad once you had accepted it.

I wasn't good enough. I had a little talent but not enough. There is nothing more discouraging than having just a little talent.

Beyond the pain, life continues to be sweet. The basics are still there. Beauty, food and friendship, reservoirs of love and understanding. Later, possibly not yet, you are going to need others who will encourage you to make new beginnings. Welcome them. They will help you move on, to cherish happy memories and confront the painful ones with more than bitterness and anger.

I'm getting too elderly to travel the length of the country for a free hangover.