The Sweet Gum Tree

In spite of the act I was putting on, I was in more pain than I’d ever experienced before. You can’t turn love on and off like a light switch, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is wall it off, one brick at a time, until you’ve created an impenetrable fortress around your emotions. And once that fortress is built, you camouflage it so well that even you can’t see it anymore.....For the first time, I lost sight of the core of the

In spite of the act I was putting on, I was in more pain than I’d ever experienced before. You can’t turn love on and off like a light switch, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is wall it off, one brick at a time, until you’ve created an impenetrable fortress around your emotions. And once that fortress is built, you camouflage it so well that even you can’t see it anymore.....For the first time, I lost sight of the core of the sweet gum tree and now saw only the pale fibrous wood, warped and untrustworthy.

“You can’t leave.” I took his hand. If I’d thought it would help, I’d have wrapped my arms around his legs and hung on for dear life to keep him at the park. How was I going to save him if he wouldn’t cooperate?

One second we’d be serious and intent, the next, laughing and giggling helplessly. And we loved each other. God, how we loved each other. There were times when we’d do nothing but kiss for hours on end, wallowing in our feelings.

“I promise you this. I’ll love you until the day I die even if I have to live without you.

He may never have said the words, but with that one last gesture, Nick had given me my heart back while letting me know he wouldn’t have one without me, and the thought almost destroyed me.

"And if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll make you care again. That’s a promise.”

I thought I lost you, he murmured. I´ve never been so afraid in my life. I felt hollow, like part of me had been ripped out

I thought I lost you, he murmured. I´ve never been so afraid in my life. I felt hollow, like part of me had been ripped out

"No one should have to go through life with only half a heart."

"No one should have to go through life with only half a heart."

"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." - William Styron

“Growing up in the Crowley Ridge area of Arkansas, I paid little attention to the sweet gum trees except to admire their brilliant colors during the fall. And maybe to laugh when the Judge cursed each time he ran the lawn mower over the hard burs they produce, the tiny missiles banging against the house or car with a loud thunk and denting the lawn mower blades he kept so carefully honed

“Growing up in the Crowley Ridge area of Arkansas, I paid little attention to the sweet gum trees except to admire their brilliant colors during the fall. And maybe to laugh when the Judge cursed each time he ran the lawn mower over the hard burs they produce, the tiny missiles banging against the house or car with a loud thunk and denting the lawn mower blades he kept so carefully honed.

It wasn’t until I was a grown woman that I realized the true nature of the tree. A sweet gum tree is the chameleon of wood, its corky exterior hiding its inner ability to imitate anything from cherry to mahogany. But its real value, one unrealized by most people, is its deep red heart, steady and strong. They see only the pale fibrous wood, easily warped, that surrounds the core.

Like the town of Morganville saw Nick Anderson…”

"He always was someone. Because the core of the sweet gum tree never changes. Like Nick, the deep red wood stays true to its nature. Strong, and steady, and pure."

"No one should have to go through life with only half a heart."

"Do you want to know the real reason I came back, Alix? It was because of you. You're my roots. Wherever you are would be home to me."