The Measure

by Nikki Erlick

The world had somehow tripped and tumbled through the looking glass, and Amie had read enough novels to recognize that this was the part of the story where nobody knew what the hell was going on, where the characters made rash decisions whose consequences would only be revealed chapters later.

Love a book girl in books

But she realized, as she placed the novel atop her dresser, that this was the first time the world outside of her books had ever rivaled the stories with its very own plot twist.

The groom survived the joint suicide attempt, while his wife of three days did not.

Ohhhh

They weren’t insane, Nina thought. They were heartbroken.

As curious as she was, Maura couldn’t help but feel sorry for the people they were discussing. Sure, they had chosen a public life, but wasn’t this somehow different, off-limits?

Social media public

“They’re a reminder that sometimes we screw up, and sometimes the system screws with us, but if you live your life with enough passion and boldness, then that’s what you’ll be remembered for. Not the crap that happened along the way.”

Did a patient receive less care because her string was short, or was a patient’s string short because she received less care?

We don’t just march because we hope it will trigger change. We march to remind them of our numbers. To remind them that they can’t forget about us.”

“All those people with the long strings who you thought you saved,” Ben said, “you did save them. Their strings were long because you were meant to save them. Their strings were long because of you.”

Some man in Nevada had apparently been making replica short strings in his garage and selling them online. Before he could be stopped, hundreds of people had purchased the fabricated strings to pull off obscenely cruel pranks, swapping out someone’s real string with a counterfeit short one. As if that were the worst fate imaginable. The butt of the world’s best joke.

Wtf

‘It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.’ You don’t need a long lifetime to make an impact on this world. You just need the will to do so.”

Se il per sempre non esiste lo inventeremo noi. Her forehead scrunched, her brain searching for the words. “If forever doesn’t exist,” she said, “we’ll invent it ourselves.”

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day.