Goodbye, Vitamin Quotes

“What imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. That the reasons we can care for one another can have nothing to do with the person cared for. That it has only to do with who we were around that person—what we felt about that person.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“If I were you is something I’ve never really understood. Why say, “If I were you”? Why say, “If I were you,” when the problem is you’re not me? I wish people would say, “Since I am me,” followed by whatever advice it is they have.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Sharing things is how things get started, and not sharing things is how they end.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“A long time ago I stopped wondering why there are so many crazy people. What surprises me now is that there are so many sane ones.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“You know what else I unfair, about Joel? That I loosened the jar lid, so somebody else could open him up.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“It doesn’t matter who remembers what, I guess, so long as somebody remembers something.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“I don't know how I got to be thirty. I don't feel thirty, the way I felt so definitely nine, and thirteen, and twenty-one.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“It’s all so messed up. I think what it is, is that when I was young, my mother was her best version of herself. And here I am, now, a shitty grown-up, and messing it all up, and a disappointment. What imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. That the reasons we can care for one another can have nothing to do with the person cared for. That it has only to do with who we were around that person—what we felt about that person. Here’s the fear: she gave to us, and we took from her, until she disappeared.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Today we went over to your mother’s friend’s house for dinner. We’d asked you to be polite, so you said, “No more, please, it’s horrible thank you.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“It was grotesque, the way I kept trying to save that relationship. Like trying to tuck an elephant into pants.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Here I am, in lieu of you, collecting the moments.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“What I want to know is what counted for something and what counted not at all. Now I feel like a shit for spending that time - that's the word it's convention to use: spending - on what turns out not to matter, and neglecting the things that did, and do.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“You repeated about how nice the day was, either because you really wanted me to know it or because you'd forgotten you already mentioned it, but all of a sudden, it didn't matter what you remembered or didn't, and the remembering--it occurred to me--was irrelevant. All that mattered was that the day was nice--was what it was.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“You know what else is unfair, about Joel? That I loosened the jar lid, so somebody else could open him up.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“I knew it started being over with Joel when I'd open a bottle of wine and he wouldn't drink it.

Sharing things is how things get started, and not sharing things is how they end.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Today you asked me what "Dick" meant, and while I was deciding what direction I should take, you said, "Mom said you were one.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Here's the fear: she gave to us, and we took from her, until she disappeared.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“We never shared those wishes. We were scared that by sharing them, they wouldn't come true. But now it occurs to me that if we'd divulged them to each other then, we'd be better able to remember them now: we'd have some else to help with half the work of remembering.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Linus makes us thermoses of coffee in the morning and we take them to the beach, where the sky is gray and the ocean is gray and it feels like being wrapped in a newspaper.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“You cast a look of concern at the colander of cauliflower. “No more crucified vegetables,” you said. “But they died for you, Dad.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“You repeated about how nice the day was, either because you really wanted me to know it or because you’d forgotten you already mentioned it, but all of a sudden, it didn’t matter what you remembered or didn’t, and the remembering—it occurred to me—was irrelevant. All that mattered was that the day was nice—was what it was.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“and it was at that point I realized that I could remember something and he could remember something different and if we built up a store of separate memories, how would that work, and would it be okay? The answer, of course, in the end, was no.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Think of all the mice the scientists are studying: all those mice with Alzheimer’s. What do they forget? They forget many things, but they never forget how much they like peanut butter.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“I used to be very quick to judge the old men who don’t know that when you walk past them on the sidewalk where they’re sweeping leaves, they should stop sweeping. But not it occurs to me that maybe these old men have maladies – diseases that affect their manners – and should be pardoned.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“When I brought it up, months later, Joel said, "What are you talking about?" because he didn't remember it - he'd forgotten it completely - and it was at that point I realized that I could remember something and he could remember something different and if we built up a store of separate memories, how would that work, and would it be okay? The answer, of course, in the end, was no.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“It's all so messed up. I think what it is, is that when I was young, my mother was her best version of herself. And here I am, now, a shitty grown-up, and messing it all up, and a disappointment.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Today we went over to your mother's friend's house for dinner. We'd asked you to be polite, so you said, "No more, please, it's horrible thank you.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“I wish people would say, “Since I am me,” followed by whatever advice it is they have.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“Lately my thing is inventing new yoga poses. The Onion is one. You make yourself very round, then peel yourself, limb by limb.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin

“The mind tells you what or whom to love, and then you do it, but sometimes the mind plays tricks, and sometimes the mind is the worst.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin