I’d draw a picture of an army of teddy bears charging out to fight these green, gloppy looking blobs. My teddy bears would be riding white horses and carrying long lances like knights of the Round Table.” She started giggling at the thought of Mr. Ruggers leading a brigade of pandas, potbellies, and fuzzy-wuzzies in her defense.

We all didn’t come into to the world at the same time so it makes sense that we don’t leave it at the same time.

In truth, I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to see the light go out of my brother’s eyes.

Life went on whether people participated in it or not.

Next year, when you return, you’ll bring the ashes back and toss them onto that year’s bonfire. In this way, each of us comes back to this place, bringing some of the past, leaving with some of the future.

None of us truly knows what we’ll do when the circumstances become so overwhelming and complex that we can’t even tell right from wrong.

Nobody gets to pick what life gives them.

You’re never too old for teddy bears, Dawn. You’re just too young for cancer.

People can’t help the way they look, just the way they act.

Forgiving’s a choice you make – a gift you give to somebody even if they don’t deserve it. It costs nothing, but it makes you feel rich for giving it away.