First to Fall (Bartholomew, #1)

by Laney Hatcher

People generally didn’t realize how much they’d grown until trying to fit themselves within expectations of the past.

I hadn’t needed to consider ways to comfort my friend, for there was no comfort to be had. We’d simply grieved together, in quiet and contemplation. It was nearness and understanding more than anything else that seemed to ease Augie’s pain. He’d needed a witness more than a participant. And that’s the truth of comfort, finding it within oneself to be exactly what someone needs.

Father smiled gently. “Why would you want to make yourself smaller? Do we ask the sun to dim its light?”