Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children, #9)

by Seanan McGuire

she abandoned attempts at friendship for the small luxury of friendliness,

that was reserved for the adults who failed her, the ones who refused to tell her what they knew when it might have helped—

“The door wasn’t there because you have any obligations left to these people, or this world. It was there because sometimes people can’t let go of who they thought we were, and so they keep trying to tangle us in nets and drag us back. That doesn’t mean we have to go. Or if we do go, that doesn’t mean we have to stay.”

This resonated with me from a church perspective. When something reminds me of the church or religion it’s not “the Holy Spirit” (that turns my stomach now.- that phrase so easily dropped by anyone in the church to explain every coincidence). It’s coincidence or worse someone trying to “tangle” me back in because they can’t let go of who they think I should be.

“I just … I loved it here so much, Sumi. So, so much. It was perfect. Everything here was perfect, except for me, and so they made me leave instead of changing enough to let me be perfect, too.” “People who can’t change aren’t really perfect, and no matter how much we love it somewhere, that doesn’t mean it’s good for us,”

Church community. It felt perfect but they wouldn’t change to allow me to be perfect. They won’t change.

“People don’t usually wind up here. People are smart enough that they don’t get lost very much without intending to, and someone losing track of you doesn’t mean you’re what got lost. It normally means what got lost was caring about what the people looking for you think.”

You have to read this a few times (or at least I did). LOVE THIS! . . . What got lost was caring about what the people looking for you think.

“You don’t have to be mean,” said Antsy. “Sadly, sometimes, I do,” said Sumi. “If I was nice all the time, that would be predictable, and if I become predictable, I die inside.”

This is me. Not nice all the time so I’m not predictable. :-)

Vineta looked at her coldly. “It wasn’t our job to explain that to you.” “But it was. You were the adult.

THIS. There were adults that should have protected me. I’m not living in the past and remaining angry but I can talk to my inner child and tell her she is not to blame for the things that happened to her.

“Not wanting to look at a thing doesn’t make it not so; it just makes it so the thing can lurk and loom and leap out when you don’t expect it. If you want a life without terrible surprises, you should always look at the worst possible answer until you understand it all the way down to the bottom. Once you can do that, you’ll know what’s coming, even if you’ll never learn to like it.”