Three Days in June

by Anne Tyler

But children veer out from their parents like so many explorers in the wilderness, I’ve learned. They’re not mere duplicates of them.

Anger feels so much better than sadness. Cleaner, somehow, and more definite. But then when the anger fades, the sadness comes right back again the same as ever.

“What can I say,” I told her. Because one of life’s frustrations is that sometimes, it’s best to say nothing.

But the fact is that I believe I have only one span of life allotted to me. I don’t feel I have the option of just…trying out various random ideas and giving up if they don’t work out.”