Have You Seen Luis Velez?

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

If there was a lot of love going on all through that house, I think you would feel it. You would know.”

People laugh at things they don’t understand. It makes them feel safe. But it’s a false feeling. They are no safer. They just feel as if they are. The world is full of people too foolish to judge the difference.”

“Because I have lived ninety-two years, Raymond, and if there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that we are never so unique as we think we are.

And here is the thing about experiences that wake you up, Raymond: You try to get back to sleep, but it’s easier said than done. Once you’re awake, you’re awake.

“Yeah. But most people take care of their family. That’s the problem. They give everything they’ve got to their family and nothing to anybody else.

‘I would rather be the man who buys the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sells it.’

Living long is a gift denied to many, and so it comes with a responsibility to make the most of it. At very least to appreciate it.

Is this person I’m supposed to be judging our tribe, or another tribe? If she’s us, mistakes can be forgiven. Hell, everybody makes mistakes. The mistake becomes an anomaly, because it’s us, and we’re good people. If she’s them, mistakes need to be punished, because that’s just how they are. The mistake only proves the point that that’s always how they are.

They could imagine being afraid of Mr. Velez better than they could imagine being him.

Do for others, but don’t do only for others.

We fall into despair when the terrible gangs up on us and we forget the world can also be wonderful. We just see terrible everywhere we look.

The world is terrible and wonderful at the same time. One doesn’t negate the other, but the wonderful keeps us in the game.

when you decide to be alone or have a family, you’re pretty much choosing between feeling lonely or feeling aggravated.”

“After all, the only thing that hurts more than tears shed is tears unshed.”