I sometimes wonder if I’m the person I’m supposed to be,” Polly said. He voice was quiet. Almost distant. “Or if I’m just filling the only role left over.

It’s strange how teachers can go off to college for all those years to learn to become teachers, but some of them never learn the easy stuff. Like making kids laugh. And making sure they know that you love them.

He doesn’t move at all. I think he does this on purpose. If he moved, if he even nodded, then there would be no more sides in the room. Everyone would be on the same side. They would be a team.

Adults spend their lives unwinding their childhood.

Love does not make everything better, but it makes everything a little easier.

Getting shot might kill a person but I don’t think it would stop someone from going back to work someday. But getting stuck like Sally might stop a person from ever coming back to work, even to say hello to old friends.

To truly love someone, you must love the person you never knew, the person you know today, and the person that will someday be.

I do not need to exist for me anymore. I just want to exist for Max. I want to know the rest of Max’s story.

Your story must reflect change over time. A story cannot simply be a series of remarkable events. You must start out as one version of yourself and end as something new.

Mommy and daddy wouldn’t answer her, so she asked me to help. I stayed with her. I talked to her.