Accept the fact that this is a man’s world and learn how to play the game gracefully, my sweet.

Then a skeleton came out from among the trees. It was the skeleton of a Union soldier, though the uniform it wore was so ragged and filthy it was difficult to identify. The sunken cheeks were covered with a thin scattering of fuzz; the hair was lank and matted. It fell over the skeleton’s forehead and down into its eyes.

Children are not created fully equipped with such values as courage, compassion, integrity, and insights into the motives and needs of themselves and of others.

Once again, both Chris and I were manipulated like small puppets in our world of adults. We didn’t like it, and we suffered, but the tall ones around us said that we would soon get over our sadness, that we would “adapt” in a matter of weeks.

I don’t know if anyone ever ‘wins’ a war.

I was especially perceptive to all things beautiful that morning-raspberries in blue china bowls were enough to make the heart sing.

That was the way it was that beautiful evening of cold November rain and muddy country roads and crazy windshield wipers. That was the moment of my greatest security and confidence; it was the time when I realized that love makes one a better person, a kinder gentler one.

No matter how hard times are, people still want music.

Beautiful hours move so quickly.

I had sparkle that morning, sparkle that originated somewhere deep inside me and spread outward to my cheeks and eyes, even it seemed, to the gleam of my hair.