Winter Garden

by Kristin Hannah

Sometimes a thing was its truest self when the colors were stripped away.

Words were like pennies, fallen into corners and down the cracks, not worth the effort of collecting.

Every choice changed the road you were on and it was too easy to end up going in the wrong direction.

“We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we . . . bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do.”

“To those who are here, those who are gone, and those who are lost.” She clinked her glass against Mom’s.

She’d been hiding behind the camera, looking through glass, trying to find herself. But how could she? How could any woman know her own story until she knew her mother’s?

life—and love—can be gone any second. When you had it, you needed to hang on with all your strength and savor every second.