That, they knew, was true friendship. And they knew, if you're lucky enough to find it, you hold on to it.

Being left makes you doubt your ability to keep people, even friends.

Always make your needs and expectations known,she used to say. That way no one gets hurt.

How could someone with a life this full feel this empty?

Don't you wish you could take a single childhood memory and blow it up into a bubble and live inside it forever?

You'd be surprised how easy some things can be, things you never thought you'd do, when you take self-respect out of the equation.

Some men you know are Southern before they ever say a word," Julia said as she and Emily watched Sawyer's progress, helpless, almost as if they couldn't look away. "They remind you of something good--picnics or carrying sparklers around at night. Southern men will hold doors open for you, they'll hold you after you yell at them, and they'll hold on to their pride no matter what. Be careful what they tell you, though. They have a way of making you believe anything, because they say it that way.