The last I knew you were going to a party. just a few friends at the McEvoys' you told me. The science club, you told me. What happened? You got into a fight about the theory of relativity? Did creationists crash the party and start a rumble?

We do the best we can," she said softly, looking inward. "And punish ourselves for it. I've tried to make my choices with the idea that I've made those choices for the greatest good. Sometimes someone suffers in the process, but I made the decision for the right reason. That should count for something, shouldn't it?

Minnesotans hate zeal. Zeal is right up there on the list of suspicious emotional behaviors like joy and despair. Always err on the side of blandness.

We never know the quality of someone else's life, though we seldom resist the temptation to assume and pass judgement.

But then I had long mistaken being spoiled for being strong, being defiant for being independent, being reckless for being brave.

Family was a fertile breeding ground for the kind of psychological bacteria that warped minds and devoured hope.

They don't matter. I thought I had to prove something, and I did, to myself. There's nothing left for me to prove. I can move on with my life.