We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, those two, housed as they are in the same body. Mary Oliver

The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words. William H. Gass

His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

For the rest of my life, I will live with my hands outstretched for things that are no longer there. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I see somebody who was never properly mothered herself, who wasn’t able to give all of herself, now being forced to drain every last ounce. She was fighting for control of her life, for direction and meaning, as if she were locked in a brutal tug-of-war. The difficulty was, my sister and I were on the other end of the rope. Ronit Plank