Su-Yee Lin

“When you see her, it is like an avalanche. You are staggered, blown away, your heart beating furiously in your chest. When you see her, your memories come tumbling down, crushing you beneath their weight. When you see her, you remember all that you have lost and that again, you have lost.

You see her and you see the cancer eating away at her intestines, her hollow cheeks, her bloodshot eyes. You hear your arguments about money, about chemotherapy, about her family. You smell blood, and the antiseptic air of a hospital. You see her at age thirty-seven, her long chestnut hair windblown, her green eyes sad, her mouth open in an “o” of astonishment. There is no happiness in her face.

You see her and you cannot say a word.”
― Su-Yee Lin, Thirteen Steps in the Underworld

“Every step you take is a step in the dark, because every step takes you away from what you know, who you are, what you want to be. Every step in the dark is the creation of something new. Every step takes a toll in memory.”
― Su-Yee Lin, Thirteen Steps in the Underworld