More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Maybe Alexis was right and I shouldn’t be alone for it. In case it crept up and boob-punched me.
The only problem with anger is that it burns hot and fast. It doesn’t tend to burn long. Sadness burns long. Grief. Disappointment.
Regards (I’ve always wanted to end a letter with regards—oh, and to get one where someone signs it yours truly and calls me “dearest.” It’s so Mr. Darcy),
will however accept your invitation to be invited and never come. That sounds like an excellent time. I also enjoy not answering calls, not networking, never leaving the house, and hanging out with my dog.
This was me making space for her, even though she would never know it. My way of saying thank you for her friendship, even if it was too quiet to hear.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to live like that? To not carry that burden around with you. To not feel constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated and second-guess every little thing.
think that’s why Benny’s diagnosis was so hard on my brother. He wasn’t just living what was happening. He was living what might happen. An infinite number of what-ifs, fueled by his anxiety, each one experienced like they were going on simultaneously, eating away at him, terrifying him, tormenting him. And once he started down that path, it was so hard to stop the progression. It was a self-perpetuating cycle of emotional destruction.
thousand marble eyes stared out at me. It was full of taxidermy. FULL. And it was weird. A squirrel in a cowboy hat and chaps riding a turtle. A white mouse dressed in a wizard robe and glasses reading a book, a rabbit with antlers, a ferret in a little bathtub scrubbing his back with a loofa. A dead coyote dressed like Flo from the Progressive commercials. She had the bouffant haircut and red lipstick and everything. It was pretty hilarious, but still.
“Have you ever heard that quote if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid?” “Yeah…” “Sounds like Amy really likes hanging out in trees.” I laughed a little. “I will never judge you for how you climb a tree, Jacob. And you should know that you are an exceptional fish.”
“I always think that when we’re quiet, we’re agreeing to be harmless to each other. That we’re just sharing the same space and letting each other exist exactly as we are, and neither of us would hurt or upset the other one.”
‘A man who can keep a plant alive has the patience to put up with your shit.’”
Jacob made me feel safe. He was like a living lullaby. A softly spoken word. The smell of coffee and toast in the morning or a cozy fleece blanket. The rain pattering on the roof on a day where you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything.
move across his face. “You and me?” he said gently. “We’re different. We agree to be harmless to each other.” The words broke my heart. Jacob’s promise to be harmless to me felt more earnest than my own wedding vows had at the end.
“Watching Briana. I sent her flowers. I’m waiting for them to get here.” “What’d you send her flowers for?” I smiled. “She’s mad at me.” “For what?” “She asked if I’d eat her if she were a gummy bear. I said yes.”
Dearest Briana, My deepest apologies. I clearly did not understand the assignment.
“We’re all a little broken, Briana. We are a mosaic. We’re made up of all those we’ve met and all the things we’ve been through. There are parts of us that are colorful and dark and jagged and beautiful. And I love every piece of you. Even the ones you wish didn’t exist.”
There’s a special peace in sleeping next to someone you love. When you slip into the dark holding them and wake up and they’re still there and you know that everything that matters is just opening your eyes away.
And I realized that this is what true love feels like. Clinging even to the stolen moments you’re not supposed to have…
