No, no, no to Tallyho.

She was just a shell of her former self, functioning and talking but hardly alive.

I was so thrilled that I was having a girl, because I just am so girly myself, but I think the teenage years are going to be very interesting.

But if everything was always smooth and perfect, you'd get too used to that, you know? You have to have a little bit of disorganization now and then. Otherwise, you'll never really enjoy it when things go right.

It was like discovering that some part of you wasn't yours at all. And it made me wonder what else I couldn't claim.

…It’s not just where you go, but how you choose to get there.

What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed there, regardless.