“I can tell you that events were incremental, that the unbelievable became the believable and, ultimately, the normal.”

“I thought those were others. Soon, I was to learn that they were us.”

“Nothing about these times makes any sense. Nothing. Putting it to words only makes it sound too simple.”

“Is there a magical time when children become parents to their parents?”

“All of us have parents. Generations pass. We are not unique. Now it is our family's turn.”

“My parents have lived longer than most and have expected very little. We have been blessed in too many ways to count.”

“Each stage of your lifeis like petals of a flower... unfolding and opening until it comes to full bloom...You will blossom and then you die...But know that this is not your ending.”

“What made the difference between choosing to die and deciding to live?Was it the weight of sadness that buckled them over and dragged them away from all sane, rational thoughts with an anchor of ho...”

“When you die you will not bring any possessions, but you will be accompanied by the song up into heaven”