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But all endings are also beginnings.
No story sits by itself. Our lives connect like threads on a loom, interwoven in ways we never realize.
At certain moments, when death is close, the veils pull back between this world and the next. Heaven and earth overlay. When they do, it is possible to glimpse certain souls already departed. You can see them awaiting your arrival. And they can see you coming.
Do you know what causes wind? High pressure meeting low pressure. Warm meeting cold. Change. Change causes wind. And the bigger the change, the stronger the wind blows. Life is much the same. One change blows in another.
“Why do people say ‘unbelievable’ about something that just happened? Wouldn’t that make it believable?”
Normally, when we come out of sleep, we open our eyes and everything resets. The dream world vanishes; the real world takes its place.
“Memories intersect.”
“We forget that ‘our’ time is linked to others’ times. We come from one. We return to one. That’s how a connected universe makes sense.”
When we build, we build on the shoulders of those who came before us. And when we fall apart, those who came before us help put us back together.”
“We fear loneliness, Annie, but loneliness itself does not exist. It has no form. It is merely a shadow that falls over us. And just as shadows die when light changes, that sad feeling can depart once we see the truth.” “What’s the truth?” Annie asked. “That the end of loneliness is when someone needs you.” The old woman smiled. “And the world is so full of need.”
“This is my heaven,” Cleo said. “Watching people come home?” Annie asked. “Feeling the joy when they do. Souls reuniting. It’s something divine.”
“No act done for someone else is ever wasted.”
Children begin by needing their parents. Over time, they reject them. Eventually, they become them.
This is the disarming power of children: their need makes you forget your own.
ALL CHILDREN KEEP SECRETS. All parents do the same. We mold the version we want others to believe, boosting the disguise and tucking away the truth. It is how we can be loved by our closest family members and still, at times, elude them.
She hoped a new state would mean a new life. But the things we have done are never far behind us. And like a shadow, they go where we do.
“Secrets. We think by keeping them, we’re controlling things, but all the while, they’re controlling us.”
“Because we embrace our scars more than our healing,” Lorraine said. “We can recall the exact day we got hurt, but who remembers the day the wound was gone?
“That’s how salvation works. The wrongs we do open doors to do right.”
Love comes when you least expect it. Love comes when you most need it. Love comes when you are ready to receive it or can no longer deny it.
“You lose something every day you live, Annie. Sometimes it’s as tiny as the breath you just expelled, sometimes it’s so big you think you won’t survive it.”
