The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride Quotes

“But here’s the thing about loving someone—it makes you forget what “impossible” means.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“But this here’s something I’ve learned in my life—what’s right and what’s legal aren’t always the same thing. And when put to it, a man ought to do what’s right. The law be damned.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“I think of all the time I was away from Jenny. All the time I was away from the boys, traveling from city to city. Away from them day after day. Missing out on their schoolwork, their sports, their girlfriends…their lives, really. By the time I was done playing ball, the boys were grown and did exactly what we taught them to do—they went out into the world and made lives for themselves. Got married. Had families of their own. We always had a relationship. They were always cordial. They visited. They kept in touch. But they never looked at me the way they looked at Jenny. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy making sure I never acknowledge how much that hurt. Pretending it wasn’t my fault.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“The change was so slow I didn’t even know it was happening ‘til one day I looked down and half my arm was hanging down like a towel on a clothesline. Surprised me so much I thought I had a disease, ’till I realized I was just old.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“I just realized life’s not worth a pile of beans if you don’t live it. So I started living it.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“the way I see it, it’s best to just stay away from people you don’t see eye to eye with. Once you get the hint that there’re some irreconcilable differences, what’s the point of hanging around each other?”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“You look at him like a belt-high fastball on a 3-1 count.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“But here’s the thing about loving someone—it makes you forget what “impossible” means. It”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“We’re never as lost as it seems, Murray,” Father says. “There’s always a path to take. But we have to want to take it.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Without love, our lives would be nothing,” he says. “The world would be nothing. Without love, we might as well not even exist.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“But there’s also the physical heart. The one that only has one job—to push blood through our bodies and keep us alive. And it’s that one, the physical heart, that’s quickly killing Jason.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“But now I see it. It’s because there are two hearts in each of us. The one that shows what we’re made of. How much we love and how well we live.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“You’ll have plenty of time to be dead, Murray. But this is the only time you have to live. Don’t throw that gift away.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“We all say things we shouldn’t. Things we wish we could take back.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Things hurt worst first thing in the morning. It’s like death senses an opportunity—an old man lying down, eyes closed, breathing slowly. Like most of his job is already done for him and all he has to do is lower the final blow. Next thing you know, I’ll be floating up to St. Peter’s gate. Except I keep cheating death, one way or another. So each morning I wake up, feeling like death got a little closer than the last time, and I have to work a little more to get life back”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“in code. But I know the translation. The beautiful blemishes of a long life refers to all the liver spots on my face and arms. And the unique marks of experience? That’s the wrinkles so deep lint gets stuck in them. It’s how the skin sags off my jaw. She doesn’t have to say it. I still hear it. “But look beyond those things,” she says. “Look deeper and you’ll see the palest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. You can imagine his Scottish descent—”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“My skin looks pretty reptilian these days, too. All scaly and dangly where it used to be round with muscles. The change was so slow I didn’t even know it was happening ‘til one day I looked down and half my arm was hanging down like a towel on a clothesline. Surprised me so much I thought I had a disease, ’till I realized I was just old.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Grief is as unpredictable as the game of baseball itself.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Make of that what you will.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“If a heart could be nourished by waffles, the kid would be healthy as a horse.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“turns out Jason’s mother is a knock-out. “Hello,” she says in a voice like a songbird. “You must be Murray McBride.” She puts her drink down, stands, and puts her hand out real polite-like. I take it and kiss the soft skin on top. Then I think of Jenny. I’m sure she’s having a good chuckle right about now, watching me flirt with a woman sixty years my junior. So’s the woman next to Jason’s mother, judging by the smile on her face. She stands to greet me too and her hair—with bright purple and blonde streaks—is cut short and spiky. But she’s got a nice smile, too, so I nod to her polite-like. “Ma’am,” I say to Jason’s mother. “You’ve got a wonderful boy here. I’m grateful to have a chance to spend some time with him.” “Well!” she says, and I wonder if she’s ever heard such things about Jason.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“I cry for my lost youth. I cry for Jenny and the boys. I cry for everything I missed out on. Like being the kind of man who can say the things he feels in his heart. Like being the kind of father whose sons know they mean the world to him. .”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“S, B, K,” Tiegan says. “Strong, brave, and kind. It’s kind of our motto now, mom”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“scrutinizing”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“When a body gets as old as mine, the skin might look like leather, but it tears like wet paper.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“You’ll have plenty of time to be dead, Murray. But this is the only time you have to live. Don’t throw that gift away.” He pats my leg again and stands to leave. But suddenly, I don’t want to be alone. “I don’t know what to do,” I say. “I don’t know how to…not feel so lost.” He doesn’t answer right away, so I fight back the tightening in my throat and wipe at my eyes. “Just tell me. What should I do?”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Find yourself, Murray. And you’ll find your path.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“I try to stifle a grumble, but it’s not easy. To think an American boy can’t play in a baseball game because he’s not a five-tool player—”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“S, B, K,” Tiegan says. “Strong, brave, and kind. It’s kind of our motto now, mom says. And we say it to each other all the time.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride

“Eighty years, dadgommit!” I know it’s not very Christian to holler like that, but those last thirty years were some of our best. Never believe anyone who says old people don’t know how to love each other just because their bodies are worn out and they bicker now and again. The way I see it, love’s just getting going after fifty years.”
― Joe Siple, The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride