Welcome

“Grief was like a memory keeper. It showed me moments I’d forgotten, and I was grateful, even as my stomach hollowed out. I never wanted to forget them, no matter how painful it was to remember.”

“I know who I am until somebody questions it, and then I have to start all over again. It’s exhausting.”

“If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But when it's in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn't mean it's no longer love.”

“My soul sees its equal in you.”

“Only after Mom went missing did you realize that her stories were piled inside you, in endless stacks. Mom's everyday life used to go on in a repeating loop, without a break. Her everyday words, which you didn't think deeply about and sometimes dismissed as useless when she was with you, awoke in your heart, creating tidal waves.”

“Shame can be sneaky. It tries to tell you that you are not good enough. My personal experience with a chronic illness allows for special empathy and compassion for those who experience chronic illnesses or pain.”

“Losing you,” she said, her dark eyes searching his face. “To you, Nena died. To her, you left. Those are two very different griefs.”

“I came to the realisation that it was impossible to change my environment. I decided to try and change myself instead.”

“A person who talks so freely about her own life will talk just as freely about yours.”