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The whole world is divided for me into two parts; one is she, and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other is where she is not, and there is dejection and darkness . . . —Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
“Where do you think the love goes, when no one’s left to tell the story?”
“Someone once told me that growing up feeling loved allows you to go on to love other people. Maybe love is simply a huge chain letter, passed down through the generations. The details of the stories begin not to matter.”
“Because sometimes I feel conflicted; like I want to stand up to the patriarchy and everything, but I’d also quite like to be in love and have a boyfriend.”
“When you are with someone for a long time, you grow into each other, like adjoining trees with tangled roots. It’s hard to extricate yourself and find the part that’s left—who you were before.”
How many nights have we stayed up late with a glass of wine, talking about Schitt’s Creek one minute and Dostoyevsky the next? I will never find a flatmate who can replace her.
Me & my roomie :')
“The Roman poet Horace said: ‘Don’t hope or fear, but seize today, you must! And in tomorrow put complete mistrust.’ All any of us have is today.”
I now feel a second wind of energy with the prospect of being helpful to Ted.
Acts of service queens rise
“You should have it,” he says. “Anything that makes your face light up like that—my grandmother would want you to have it.”
“Laura, pass me the thingamee, will you?” And I know exactly what she means.
I have these vivid dreams less frequently now. A painful pleasure, but I would not be without them. They are a chance to see her again, to spend time in her company. On waking, when the deception is realized, I feel the sorrow of losing her all over again, but then my mind scrabbles to collect up the breadcrumbs of detail that will keep her real.
“People like to fill in the gaps, to paint their own picture, but no one really knows the truth of someone else’s story.”
“What has you up so early then, besides worrying about Ted?” “I don’t know, everything.” I sigh. “Work, thinking about my mum and dad, wondering what I’m doing with my life.”
Me fr
Every trip I took in my early twenties sent me home with a broader mind and a new perspective on the person I wanted to be.
I feel so known by him; the words he says, the way he touches me like fingers on braille, reading who I am.
“The human heart is like a flowerbed, Laura. Once the first blooms die, there’s room enough for something else to grow, but it will never be quite the same as that first flower, the initial thrill of seeing what your heart is capable of.”
“That watery horizon is a spirit level for the soul,” says Gerry. “When you look at it for long enough, it puts life straight again.”
“Do you know what happens when you don’t have your phone?” Gerry asks. I look at him, waiting for an answer. “Life.”
“There is an old proverb: He who fears to suffer, suffers from fear.”
maybe life’s more about carving out happy chapters than finding a single happy ending.”
“It wasn’t just a kiss to me,” he says firmly, his voice low.
I’m Team Gale all the way.
Ok Vanya ur now canceled
“You are spectacular. You have woken me up, and I never want to be asleep again.”
“Some people bring out the parts of yourself you like the most,” he says. “I like the version of myself I am when I’m with you.” “I know what you mean. I feel the same, like I don’t have to filter myself around you. I’m not sure if this raw version of me even existed before.” “She was always there,” says Ted. “You just hadn’t met her yet.”
The comfort of a kettle. And then I start thinking that maybe it’s quite nice to give your kettle a nickname, especially if you live alone, and maybe Aunt Monica is on to something. I might name my own kettle—Kevin, perhaps.
Today I am happy. Today I feel lucky. Today the world is a good place to be. Maybe the only real legacy any of us can hope to leave is to be a link in the chain that keeps love flowing through the generations.
