The Second Life of Mirielle West Quotes

“A good lie’s always easier to stomach than the truth.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“Even when ya go home, ya won’t be the same person ya were before. No two ways about that. With or without the disease, life ain’t that damn long. Might as well make the most of it, or try at least. Wherever ya are.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“We cannot survive without hope.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“For those few minutes, she wasn’t Polly the leper or Mirielle the cuckoo mother. She was just a body in motion.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“What hope was there then if you could outrun the disease but not the hate and stigma?”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“always easier to stomach than the truth.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“This disease, it marks us. Follows us wherever we go.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“the sterilizer, five and ten dollar bills neatly folded and tucked within the pages of letters by those residents whose families on the outside still depended upon them to eat. Some families wouldn’t take the money, Mirielle had heard. Others soaked it in bichloride of mercury as soon as it arrived, then hung it on the clothesline to dry. Those in direst need wasted no time in handing it over to the landlord or grocery clerk, she suspected. The”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“When she finished, he laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Lo siento, señora. Someday this too will be behind you.” He glanced down at his healing legs. “We cannot survive without hope.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“There are two types of patients at Carville: those who count themselves among the dead, and those who have the pluck to claim their place among the living. The choice is yours.” Mirielle watched as he”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“I hope you will not hate me for saying so, but I see your illness as a gift. And I plead you don’t squander it. The woman I met all those years ago”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“You’d gone into yourself and were nothing but”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“This gazeek ain’t as contagious as they’d like you to think. Youngsters are especially susceptible, they say, but none of my kids ever came down with so much as a bump. Didn’t matter none, though.” His once earnest eyes turned mean. “Did you know our condition is lawful grounds for divorce, Mrs. Marvin?”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“I’m the reason this whole joint exists. Caused such a howl a few years back in Washington, D.C., they had no choice but to make a national leper home to lock me up in.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“He leaned forward. “Gonna tell you my real name, not the made-up name the nuns call me.” He paused, smiled again, and leaned closer. “My real name’s Samuel Hatch. Ever heard of me?”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“Most patients prefer to take a new name. We’re very guarded with our records, but with so many residents and personnel and visitors,”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“If they’re gonna insist we be segregated from the rest of the world, least they can do is take care of us.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“Listen, everyone gotta find their own meaning in what they do. For some folks, it’s keeping busy. For some, it’s serving God. For some, it’s just plain surviving.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“Each time he called out a new finding, Mirielle’s pulse revved like an over-gassed engine.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“His graying hair suggested a man well into his fifties. His hardened eyes suggested a man older still. One who knew the meanness of the world. At least they had that in common.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“No wonder she had the disposition of a boiled lobster.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“museum, or check out these books: Carville: Remembering Leprosy in America by Marcia Gaudet, Alone No Longer by Stanley Stein, Miracle at Carville by Betty Martin, A Disease Apart by Tony Gould, King of Microbes by Johnny Harmon, Out of the Shadow of Leprosy by Claire Manes, and Carville’s Cure by Pam Fessler.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West

“You asked about my tale of suffering. And I wanted you to see that life goes on whether we like it or not.”
― Amanda Skenandore, The Second Life of Mirielle West