Lightning in a Mason Jar Quotes

“But there’s going to come a time when people like me are going to get tired of carrying the burden of helping white folks trying to understand.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“How had I missed the pattern of women being shuttled away when they became a problem?”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“overflowing rocks were like stockpiled emotions, and when they overflowed, sometimes a person had to find a way to showcase the most important ones.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“couldn’t imagine turning away from my grief. Because then I’d be turning away from Russell. It was easier to hurt than envision life without the only person who understood every facet of me.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“Run like hell from ghosts.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“I expected the changes that began when my father gave away the bride. Giving me away to Phillip, as if I were a possession passed over to a neighbor like a handsaw or a charcoal grill—or the tiny black-and-white television—he no longer needed but still thought of fondly. Although if I’d been a brighter color TV, I might have been wanted. Still objectified, but not discarded.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“My heart is committed fully to loving you for the rest of my days on earth.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“You’re worth the wait,” he said. “You’re my lightning in a bottle, that once-in-a-lifetime event. Difficult. Challenging. And exciting beyond belief.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“It was all I could manage not to hug her. But she still radiated so much defensiveness, I figured affection would make her run rather than risk letting the kindness bring tears. Anger was easier than vulnerability.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“I still saw each person as an individual. A special soul worthy of the best life has to offer. “I helped you because you needed it. You’re not a substitute for anyone. You matter.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“I took pride in how often the ladies of the garden club showed up at my booth. Soon they began to place last-minute orders for times they just plumb ran out of time to bake. Even if it meant I stayed up past midnight, I filled those orders, desperate to pack the hours in my day and increase the money I’d hidden away in my tampon box under the bathroom sink. I’d yet to meet a man who would touch a container of feminine products.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“Some people had to come to the realization that their parents were imperfect humans who were doing life for the first time too.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“My mother once told me—in a lighthearted tone—about the time she wanted to kill herself. But she didn’t want people to see her messy house. So she cleaned. Then she worried about how she would look when people found her, so she showered, changed, and styled her hair. Next, she wanted to make one more special moment with her daughter and sat with me on the sofa to read a book. As we explored the Velveteen Rabbit’s urge to become real, she realized her house was clean, she looked her best, and her little girl was such a quiet toddler. And my mother’s urge to take her own life faded. She would tell the story jokingly, a drink in one hand and a cigarette burning to ash in the stone ashtray. Everyone would laugh. I would join in. Why had it taken me so long to see her hidden message to her daughter and any other females out there? Maintain a clean house, stay pretty as a peach, and keep your children quiet. The stakes for doing otherwise were high. Life or death.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar

“As if a woman’s entire worth, her sum total sense of self, were tied into her ring finger and uterus. A Mrs. or a mom.”
― Catherine Mann, Lightning in a Mason Jar