“Generally the men always tried to appear strong; they walked tall, heads upright, arms steady at the sides, and feet firmly planted like trees. Solid, Jericho walls of men. But when they went out i...”

“Because we were not in our country, we could not use our own languages, and so when we spoke our voices came out bruised.”

“I am starting to talk fast now, and I have to remember to slow down because when I get excited, I start to sound like myself and my American accent goes away.”

“And they had nothing, except of course memories, their own, and those passed down by their mothers and mothers' mothers. A nation's memory.”

“this place doesn't look like my America”

“That's what you do in America: you smile at people you don't know and you smile at people you don't even like and you smile for no reason.”

“once sailed neither the ship nor the shore ever remains the same again.”

“We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky.”

“One day spent with someone you love can change everything.”