Alternative Remedies for Loss Quotes

“They nodded, polite and distant. It wasn't just that they didn't understand what the past year had been for her, she saw, but that they didn't want to try to understand. Loss, grief---her friends insulated their youth against such things, as if to even truly acknowledge then was an invitation.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“Her craving for abstraction, for metaphor, was almost physical, but she could not will herself to construct meaning from her surroundings.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“When you knew what you wanted, everything became simpler, more streamlined.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“Her mind instinctively flicked to that scab---what would Mom think---her most reliable source of self-flagellation for that last year.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“For the last year, there was an altar to Eleanor in Olivia's mind. Thinking of her mother was an antidote to whatever she didn't want to be dealing with, capable of making her feel chastened or vindicated, depending on the circumstance, but always somehow transported. In the midst of her ruminations, her mind went instinctively to that place, seeking comfort, and was met with emptiness.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“...she wondered if that was how all pain was, truly open to interpretation, not inherently good or bad.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss

“This was a thing her mother had taught her, about getting what you want: be nice, but don't go anywhere.”
― Joanna Cantor, Alternative Remedies for Loss