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.

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.

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 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.

The horse world is populated by two kinds of people: those who love horses, and those who exploit horses and the people who love them.