By Any Other Name

by Lauren Kate

Life’s greatest mystery is whether we shall die bravely.

He’s still gazing at me as though we share a secret, and something about it is awkward, and something about it is spellbinding.

Then there’s the religion question, whether I’ll convert to Christianity. It’s important to Ryan that whatever future kids we have share the same religion as both their parents. I’m not particularly religious, but neither have I managed to get on board with converting. It feels wrong to change myself so we can become some WASPy united front on a future campaign trail. What is this, 1956? Even more than that, I can’t imagine telling BD that I’m not a Jew anymore and neither will her great-grandchildren be.

The routines we’ve fallen into sometimes make me feel restless and claustrophobic, like a windup toy stuck in a corner.

‘The birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.’

The message, as I understood it, was that some people can look into the abyss without losing sight of themselves or what they love. Without being too scared about what lies on the other side.

Lowered expectations don’t invite disappointment. They expect the imperfect in all of us.

“If faith in love were a source of energy, you could power a small planet.”

“More,” is what I tell Noah. “She wants more time. More memories. More laughter. More little moments you don’t think you’ll remember but you do. She doesn’t want it to end. She wants more of what she already has.”

“but Bernadette—she was my teacher—she said never look down at where you are. She said to keep your eyes on where you’ll be.

I know life is ephemeral, and we only get to do it once, but some true things—like this embrace, like the best love stories—live on.