Turtle Under Ice Quotes

“We have the capacity
to be cruel, if we let the pain consume us”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“Maybe hope is like a turtle under ice
breathing through its shell,
through its biochemistry, still alive.

Maybe hope waits for spring to come, for the ice to thaw
for the weight of the pond that encapsulates us to melt into nothing.

But maybe we are not meant to wait for springtime.
Maybe, instead, we are meant
to break the ice
and be free."
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“There was no right time for my mother to die,
because when someone we loves dies,
it will always be untimely"
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“Because, like snowstorms and earthquakes and death,
your future will happen regardless of whether
you planned for it"
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“It's not about the best school. Private or public.
In state or out of state. Two-year or four-year.
It's about who you show up as
during your college experience"
-Maribel”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“But it is unmistakable looking at the painting.
When you know grief, you see it too.
In colors. In paintings. In the faces of strangers"
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“Because in the natural order of things, death is normal,
but we do a shit job at expecting it."
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice

“I didn't just wake up at four a.m. and decide
to suddenly change my life. No one does that.
No one decides to change their life. Their life instead
changes for them. Without warning.
Without a chance to decide."
-Ariana”
― Juleah del Rosario, Turtle Under Ice