Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)

by Abby Jimenez

“Why not forgive? In a world where you can choose anger or empathy, always choose empathy, Justin. I

Sometimes the best way to show love or be kind to someone is to meet them where they are.”

“What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves. If you think of it that way, instead of being sad that he’s gone, be happy that he got what he wanted. And that somebody loved you enough to take your place.”

“I’ve had a lot of bad things happen to me, Justin. I think sometimes the key to happiness is framing those things in a different way.”

It was like there was no peaceful place to exist, no emotional safe space. I could have chaos, or I could have worry. I could be in the tornado, or I could be in the eye. But I could never be out of the storm. It was so, so exhausting to live this way and I had always lived this way because when it came to my mother, I didn’t know how to not care. I never felt calm except for the fleeting time her perfume was strong and I knew she was okay.

“Maybe home isn’t a place. Maybe it’s a person.”

I watched her looking at this doll lovingly and just smiled softly at her. I knew that feeling. The feeling that you’re getting back a piece of your childhood.

And I know that sounds sort of terrible, but it’s actually comforting to know that I have this ability to need no one. It feels like a superpower. Like I’m untouchable.”

“Be glad you don’t get it. It means your life has been a lot gentler than hers.”

“Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.”

You can still love someone that you’ve decided not to speak to anymore. You can still wish them well and hope for the best for them. Choosing a life without them doesn’t mean you stop caring about them. It just means that you can’t allow them to harm you anymore.

Able to give grace to someone who’d let her down so badly.

It’s funny how when you find someone you like as much as I liked her, the destination is suddenly wherever they are.

“Because you have this thing where you always believe the best in people—especially with her. It shouldn’t surprise you that she continues to be disappointing, yet again, but it always does and I’m sick of seeing you get hurt. You need to lower your expectations waaaaaay down. The bar is on the floor and she’ll bring a shovel, every time. The sooner you realize that, the happier you’ll be.”

Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help.

“If this isn’t magic, then what is?” he asked. “What does it feel like to be under a spell if this isn’t it?”

“You cannot keep caring about her more than you care about yourself.”

Because when you’re in love, you do hard things.

The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life. It’s not grand gestures that show how you feel, it’s all the little secret things you do to make her life better that you never tell her about.

It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t all butterflies and stars in your eyes. It’s real. This is the kind of love that forever is made of. Because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

It’s one thing to go to therapy and learn skills. It’s very different to have to use them in real life. And I did need to use them.