“At a certain point, unabashed optimism becomes delusional insanity.”

“Please remember that you can talk to me about anything. I know its hard to talk to your old mom about things, but Ill always help you in whatever way I can. Im serious. You have to remember that I ...”

“She was getting worse, but I knew that I had to stand by her. I knew the type of woman she really was and I needed to find a way to help her find herself. She didnt give up on me when I hit bottom,...”

“I think weve all lost our minds a bit. It sounded like she was fighting back tears.”

“Then again, I had become a disappointment. Its easier to find fault with a disappointment.”

“I was good at fabricating the truth when necessary to protect someone, even myself.”

“Don't cry over someone who wouldn't cry over you.”

“Eventually something you love is going to be taken away. And then you will fall to the floor crying. And then, however much later, it is finally happening to you: youre falling to the floor crying ...”

“Weeping is not the same thing as crying. It takes your whole body to weep, and when it's over, you feel like you don't have any bones left to hold you up.”

“They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say 'Shit, it's raining!”

“Halfway home, the sky goes from dark gray to almost black and a loud thunder snap accompanies the first few raindrops that fall. Heavy, warm, big drops, they drench me in seconds, like an overturne...”

“For the rest of my life, Zanzibar will be the Swahili word for rain. The rain would drizzle, spit, mist, downpour, shower, torrent, gust, deluge and blast. At one point it hit the ground so hard it...”