Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

by James Patterson

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls — family, health, friends, integrity—are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

Good memories are like charms, Nicky. Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.

Because to be without love is to be without grace, what matters most in life.

We is so much better than I. If you need proof, just look at us.

Bad stuff does happen sometimes, Nicholas. Always remember that, but remember that you have to move on, somehow. You just pick your head up and stare at something beautiful like the sky, or the ocean, and you move the hell on.

Love between two people can last a long time if the people love themselves some and are ready to give love to another person.

But it has made me realize more than ever how vulnerable we are, how life can be like walking on a high wire. Falling seems a tiny misstep away.

One today is worth two tomorrows.

I love watching you grow, but at the same time I don’t like seeing this time fly by so fast. It’s hard to explain; I don’t really know how. But there’s something so precious about watching your child day after day after day. I want to hold on to every moment, every smile, every single hug and kiss. I suppose it has to do with loving to be needed and needing to give love.

Life is such a miracle, a series of small miracles. It really is, if you learn how to look at it with the right perspective.