Dovetail Quotes

“We don’t actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace. —T. S. Eliot”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Just saying the words and knowing you were heard. Sometimes that was all it took. Joe said, “I didn’t really bring him to you, but you’re welcome.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“John’s mother often said the most successful people lived a life of passion and service to others, something he hadn’t quite fully grasped until that moment. He’d always thought the two concepts were at odds. Following one’s passion was self-serving. How could you do that and live a life of service to others? He saw now that Alice embodied both by bringing passion and service to everything she did. No task was too menial, no person too unimportant, no place too dreary for her enthusiasm and good cheer. She brought a handful of sunshine everywhere she went. He”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“I’ve long believed that no one should be judged on the worst thing they’ve ever done. And not on the best thing either, for that matter.” She sighed. “Human beings are much more complex than one event that happened on one day in a very long life.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“John’s mother often said the most successful people lived a life of passion and service to others, something he hadn’t quite fully grasped until that moment.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“God gives people money to see what they do with it.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“There was no reasoning with someone who had no reason. The best thing to do was to avoid such individuals and, if that couldn’t be done, shut them down in a way that didn’t hurt their pride. If men like that felt publicly shamed, they’d carry that grudge to the grave and spend every waking minute in the meantime seeking vengeance. An ugly way to live and hard to understand, but that’s what he’d witnessed.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“You lose a mother, there's an empty place that can't be filled.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“She stared in the mirror in the morning, wondering how in the world she’d gotten so old. Luckily, nature had chipped away at her eyesight while simultaneously stealing her former beauty, the only blessing in the whole process.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“She stared in the mirror in the morning, wondering how in the world she’d gotten so old. Luckily, nature had chipped away at her eyesight while simultaneously stealing her former”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“always had to shine a light on herself because she didn’t understand how to light herself from within.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Time has a way of evening things out. I was beautiful once, turning heads and garnering admiring glances. Now I can see how little this matters. You see, I am dying. I had regrets, so many regrets. One night, while lying in bed, I realized that I’d broken each of the Ten Commandments at least once. It was a horrifying thought, made all the worse by realizing there’s nothing I could do about it. What’s done is done. You can’t unring the bell. I surely would, if given a chance.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“And then, for someone who’d initially said she wasn’t going to talk about it, it seemed all Pearl could do was talk about it. She told Joe that everything bad in her life that happened after that came about as a result of that evening. “My unhappy marriage, my husband’s drinking, my son cutting me out of his life—it all followed.” Her finger traced the edge of the table. “One thing leading to another. A chain linked by shame and unhappiness.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“can you give an old lady a hug?” Linda said he’d hesitated for only a second before he walked into her outstretched arms. It was a short hug, Linda said, but still, after so many decades, Joe considered it a minor miracle. “Dad told her that they’ll never be able to agree on things, but that he was willing to move forward if she was. And then she said all she wanted was his forgiveness, and he said, ‘Life is too short to hold on to grudges. I can’t forget what happened in the past, but I can forgive you.’” Linda’s eyes widened in amazement. “I think he did it because Mom told him to, but later in the car, he said just saying the words made him feel better.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“He hadn’t picked up on any remorse on her part. Cutting a family member out of your life forever was pretty extreme, but now that he’d heard his father’s take on it, he understood. Still, Pearl was old and dying and seemed to want to make amends. And she hadn’t actually killed him; his grandfather had taken his own life. The fact that they’d had a vicious argument was beside the point, he thought. Would it hurt his dad to talk to her? One short conversation, just to put this behind them before she passed away? Because once she was gone, the opportunity to talk it through would be over as well. He knew this, and yet somehow he knew his father’s mind was made up. Joe shook his head. Why did family relationships have to be so complicated?”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Satisfied with having written it down, Kathleen set the notepad on the nightstand and turned off the lights, ready to get back to sleep, but now she felt wide awake. Inwardly, she groaned. It was way too early to start the day, and yet she knew from past experience that falling back asleep was unlikely. Inevitably, she’d lie awake for hours, biding the time, having to wait until morning.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Trying to erase some bad memories. Turns out you can’t erase them, in case you were wondering. The past follows you around whether you want it to or not.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“The heart doesn’t know age, only love.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“you don’t mind, I’d rather not tell you just yet. I want you to get to know me first before you hear about the worst thing I’ve ever done. I’ve long believed that no one should be judged on the worst thing they’ve ever done. And not on the best thing either, for that matter.” She sighed. “Human beings are much more complex than one event that happened on one day in a very long life.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“So why don’t you and my father talk? Why did he tell me you died?” She shrugged. “Wishful thinking? Or maybe he says that because I’m dead to him, metaphorically speaking. As for the reason he cut me out of his life, this is it: I made a big mistake, and he’s never been able to forgive me.” Joe leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “What was the mistake?” Pearl paused for only a second. She was getting too old to sugarcoat things, so she just came out with it. “Your father believes that I killed someone.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Patching things up would be ideal, of course, but life doesn’t always work out the way you’d like it to.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“There has to be a reason why I’m still around. Lately, I’ve been thinking that it may be to seek redemption. To that end, I’m on a quest to change my ways, to repair some of the damage I’ve done. When I meet my Maker and he says, “Pearl, what do you have to say for yourself?” I want to be able to say that at the end, I tried. Better late than never. The effort has to count for something.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“I have regrets, many, many regrets. One night, while lying in bed, I realized that I’d broken each of the Ten Commandments at least once. It was a horrifying thought, made all the worse by realizing there’s nothing that can be done about it. What’s done is done. You can’t unring the bell. You can bet I would, if given a chance.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“spot of consistent tranquility in the midst of a fast-forward world.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“structure a”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Funny, but I never thought it would happen to”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Content isn’t the same thing as happy,”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“A dovetail joint can stand the test of time.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“We don’t actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail

“Human beings are much more complex than one event that happened on one day in a very long life.”
― Karen McQuestion, Dovetail