More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
my grandfather, scared and therefore annoyed, stood by the head of my grandmother’s single bed and told her to keep it down. He cursed the doctor for his slowness. He cursed Willie for moaning under her breath at the sight of blood. He cursed his pipe for not lighting on the first try. He cursed the children in the other room for their existence. He cursed his first child, his sweet baby girl, for dying on him and leaving him here like this. Shipwrecked and lonely. Useless.
Men
She selects a magazine and holds it in her lap. I look down and count the floor tiles. There are sixty-eight tiles in the half of the room we are sitting in.
I'd count floor tiles, too!
I believe that you can learn from history. Pay attention to the mistakes that were made before you, and don’t repeat them.
She married Uncle Travis when she was twenty because she got pregnant. I don’t think they were ever in love. They are united in resentment, and eternally disgusted with each other for not standing up and demanding better.
The thing with Ryan is that you can’t listen to him the way you do to just anyone. You have to listen to what is beneath his words. You have to listen to his concern, his faith, his heart.
“You need to make something of your life before life makes something of you.”
We are not big on the outdoors in our family. We don’t like bugs or sweating or sitting on the ground. We sunburn easily.
No one ever tells you, when you are young, that your entire personality can change—will change—as you grow older.
The first hour or two of these family gatherings are always torturous. We see one another once, maybe twice a year. We are family, but we have very little in common except that we are all terrible at small talk. We search one another’s eyes, trying to communicate something of who we really are while we have strained discussions about the weather, politics, our jobs, or absent family members. But today the entire McLaughlin clan is here, so we’ve lost one topic of conversation. This is the first time we’ve had full attendance in ten years, since Papa died. While he was alive, there was no
...more
This feels all too familiar to real life.
in the end my common sense was unable to stop the train barreling along:
There is no such thing as love without loss.
I look at my father. “You saved him?” I don’t really mean it as a question. I know he did. As soon as Gracie and I saw Dad, we both knew it was safe. That everything would be okay. That’s what my father does, he makes things okay. He takes care of people.
What a beautiful blessing to grow up with that kind of comfort and trust in your father.
when the doctor puts your baby into your arms for the first time, it will be worth it. You’ll be filled with so much love, you won’t believe it. The feeling is different, and more, than you’ve ever had with any man. You’ll want to change the world so it’s a better place for your baby to live in. You’ll feel like your heart is going to explode.”
An old woman’s body is one of loss. Loss of sensuality and suppleness, loss of muscle and bone mass, loss of color. Everything is fading away. You can catch glimpses of the woman who was once there, but no more.
I’ve realized from trial and error how important it is for me to do some kind of activity during these early-morning hours before anyone else is up. This is dangerous thinking time, because if I let myself go in bad directions, then by seven o’clock I will be so upset and depressed that I end up back in bed for the rest of the day. In order to make sure I do eventually take a shower and change out of my bathrobe or Papa’s sweater, I have to tread carefully from five-thirty to seven in the morning.
Gram says, “I’m so glad you are doing this for your sister, Lila. She’s always needed more help than you.” I know I made it look that way. But it wasn’t true. It isn’t true.
