He’d learned long ago: perfection isn’t what families are all about.

I had my chance.’ He said it, retiring from a lifetime of wanting. ‘I had my chance, and sometimes in life, there are no second chances. You look at what you have, not what you...

Some things just can’t be put back together. Some things can never be fixed. Two broken pieces can’t make a lot of anything anymore. But at least he had the broken pieces.

The hardest choices in life aren’t between what’s right and what’s wrong but between what’s right and what’s best.

I am what you made me, Father.

Somehow life had become a story problem, and William was horrible at math.

She’d never felt more alone, even as hundreds of people walked by. No one recognized her, and she began to treasure her anonymity as a gift.

The library is like a candy store where everything is free.

He’d do what he always did, find the sweet among the bitter.

The waitress brought a fresh pot of tea, and Marty refilled his father’s cup and poured a cup for Samantha. Henry in turn filled Marty’s. It was a tradition Henry cherished—never filling your own cup,...

Hope can get you through anything.

Talking to strangers sounded like talking to no one, which Henry had some firsthand experience in- in real life. It was lonely. Almost as lonely as Lake View Cemetery, where he’d buried Ethel.

A young nurse, someone new whom he didn’t recognise, came up to Henry and patted him on the arm. “Are you a friend or a family member?” She whispered the question in his ear, trying...

Loyalty. We’re still loyal to the United States of America. Why? Because we too are Americans. We don’t agree, but we will show our loyalty by our obedience.