Rachel’s Reviews > Flesh & Blood: Reflections on Infertility, Family, and Creating a Bountiful Life: A Memoir > Status Update

But then I think that it is vanity to need to leave a mark on things.

…back when I was a kid it never occurred to me… that I’d ever be anything but promise and forward momentum.

…I’m sitting here…as though I have not been a good steward for my body, as though I can’t protect this innocent almost-creature from the onslaught.

I want more time with the earth.

I’ve seen friends tell their dying mothers:, “No, no, you’ll be fine, don’t talk like that.” That seems a cruel thing to say to someone who wants to tell you that they’re afraid.

It’s a way of asserting my humanness to know big words, to understand what is happening to me.

… I am aware of the solitary nature of these moments, even when the people we love are standing right there next to us.