“That's how you know you love someone, I guess, when you can't experience anything without wishing the other person were there to see it, too.”

“Why is it so hard to articulate love yet so easy to express disappointment?”

“You can't compare and rank heartache. Pain is pain is pain. There is no precise measurement. No quarter cup.”

“I'll never be ready. Yet at the same time, you always want to reach the end. You can't fly to a destination and linger in the air. I want to reach the end of this thing, and I feel terrible about it.”

“A sea of red lights, and I slow down. My job now is to gather everyone together and tell them we have to let her go. I won't tell anyone over the phone, because I didn't like hearing the news from ...”

“I think grief and fear are going to come to him suddenly. They'll be undiluted and words won't work. We're all going to get hit and won't know how to hit back. I wish I knew the answers, how to hel...”

“I look in the jewelry box where Joanie found the drugs. She showed me a miniature Ziploc bag filled with a clear, hard rock.What is this? I said. I never did drugs, so I had no idea. Heroin? Cocain...”

“Id like you to come to Kauai with me, I say. And Scottie. I think it would be good to get her away from the hospital for a day. We can leave in the morning, find him, and be home tomorrow night. If...”

“Youve already said that, Alex says. Why should I go?Youre the only person I have, I say. And I want us all to be together. It will be good for us.Oh, so now Im back in the picture again.Alex. Somet...”

“A hallmark of virtuous adulthood is learning to find freedom in your work rather than freedom from your work, even when work might hurt.”

“Parenting requires a delicate balance of letting your child be your spiritual teacher while you maintain the clarity and boundaries to be her Earthly teacher.”

“Remember, nothing is ever created or destroyed. Therefore, unresolved emotional pain from childhood does not dissolve by itself. It sits waiting to be declared, and a child is the ultimate vehicle ...”