“In my culture, we know death intimately. In Arabic, the highest expression of love is the phrase “ya’aburnee” Translated “you bury me” - It means “I love you so much, I’d sooner die than bury you” It was used by mothers in our lineage who were so used to losing their young in war; In my culture, we cannot talk about love without speaking death’s name”

“The wound is where the light enters you.”

“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.”

you’re hiding yourself again

“Maybe I was destined to forever fall in love with people I couldn’t have. Maybe there’s a whole assortment of impossible people waiting for me to find them. Waiting to make me feel the same impossibility over and over again.”

“He is not here and you are not there and no matter how much you pray it’s not going to happen because it is not meant to happen but you just don’t know how to give up, how to give up on him, on you, on the ‘us’ you want with him, but dear it’s time to give up, it’s time to let go because he won’t ever see you that way, even if you are standing with your naked soul in front of him, he will not notice you”

““How do you do it?” She asked, tears staining her eyes a light shade of crimson. “I don’t.” He replied flatly. Her eyes flashed from the floor to his face and painfully met his. She stared at him, clearly confused and hurt. “You think that i’m doing just fine without you but i’m not, i’m not fine but i know better than to ever get back with you. You’ve hurt me too much and i’ve finally learned my self worth. So i’m sorry to say it, but this is goodbye.” He sighed before reaching for his bag and heading out the door, never to come back again.”

“I didn’t want us to end up like this. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I didn’t want us to act like strangers, or maybe even less because we can’t even hold eye contact, because we can’t ever talk again, because we can’t ever know each other again. And maybe I loved you so much that I wish we hadn’t fallen in love, just so I could have kept you by my side, even if it wasn’t as a lover.”

“I know that you’re afraid that you’re still in love with him. I know that you’re scared that you’ll be empty without him, that the best parts of yourself are wrapped up in the worst parts of him. You think that if he lets you go, you’ll look around your life and not recognize anything. You think that if you let him go, you’ll regret it, more than any choice you’ve made in your entire life. Because love is complicated. Love is messy. But babygirl, you weren’t empty before you met him and you damn sure aren't empty now. So what if you’re still a little in love with him? Love is about choices. So make the choice to seek closure, to move forward instead of being stuck in his toxic orbit. Extricating yourself from your past isn’t easy. But you can’t move on without feeling everything that comes with saying goodbye. You can’t fully embrace everything that the universe wants to place in your lap without letting go of the burden still clawing its way into your heart. And if there is some space in your heart after he leaves, fill it with love - for your parents, for your kid brother, for the professor that saved your life. But honestly? I really hope you fill it with love for yourself.”

“Even after he stabbed me in the back, I kept rambling on- apologizing for my blood on his hands.”

“People have to pretend you’re a bad person so they don’t feel guilty about the things they did to you.”