So the first step out of childhood is made all at once, without looking before or behind, without caution, and nothing held in reserve.

This very easy divorce had become very difficult. I thought I was in the express lane and it was all fast tracks from there. Think again.

I want to be the best version of myself for anyone who is going to someday walk into my life and need someone to love them beyond reason.

Well, can you tell her that?"He looked down at his feet. "I will. I will."Guy-speak for, "I plan to keep avoiding her until she gives up.

I could only defend myself so much. It was my word against his. There was no evidence, nor was there any proof. My word meant very little.

Resting on the roots of this old oak I lean back against his knotted trunk, shine my granny smith on my sleeve And ponder the days…

But I love you and I want you and I need you. Can’t you see that? This world has nothing to offer me if it doesn’t include you.

That last time you kissed me my heart slid past your teeth down into the center of your chest… trapping us both in a stainless cage.

It’s a neighborhood where every dad has at least one job and where parents often end conversations with the words: no guts, no glory.

…girls were like poems: weird, incomprehensible and boring, but those “in the know” assured me that they were beautiful.

We're about to hit that age when we'll be too exhausted to maintain friendships, and the days of hanging out will be long behind us.

Somehow, we both got carried away. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but before long, I knew nothing was ever going to be the same.

Happiness comes in many forms. Whether through a passion for something or someone, it makes no difference. The results are the same: you live.

Mama and I sat on a burping bus full of chickens in cages, and round-eyed babies on round mothers' laps. (The Pinata-Maker's Daughter)

The dark realization came to him that a difficult and miserable age had begun for him, and he couldn't imagine when it would end. [Puberty]