Quotes from Deborah Spungen

You had to laugh, if you wanted to survive.

Maybe they'll improve their ability to detect neurological damage. Maybe they'll be able to help someone else's baby. It's too late for Nancy, a generation too late. It's good to see people opening their eyes to this syndrome that has no name. You tend to close them until it happens to your child. There is no such thing as a child who is not worth saving.

She was constantly prying us apart, pitting us against each other. We fought out of frustration

She was simply a rotten kid.

Murder: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines it as "the unlawful killing of one human being by another, especially with malice aforethought." The mother of a murdered child has a different definition: "The blackest hell accompanied by a pain so intense that even breathing becomes an unendurable labor." I know; I am the mother of a murdered child.

She began to scream at the top of her lungs, "I wanna die! I wanna die! I'm gonna kill myself! I wanna die!" Everyone in the neighborhood could hear her.

Once again, Dr. Blake blamed us for the incident. "There's conflict in the house," she said to me, through my social worker. "Of course there's conflict!" I complained. "As long as we try to handle her there's going to be conflict. You told us to be firm!

in the book, refused to come with him. He grabbed her arm to pull her back. She struggled to get free, and in so doing pulled her arm out of its socket.

You happy you got her to run away?" "Thrilled to death," he replied bitterly as he closed the door behind her.

My fault, again. Dr. Blake said I also handled the beads incident wrong when I reported that a couple of weeks later.

As satisfied as I was that I had accomplished what I had set out to do, I realized that the journey I had resolved to take did not end after the completion of the book. I have learned that each journey begets another one and life has a way of exponentially creating new roads to follow.

In the telling, I found humor in my adventures. By the time I was done describing my day, we were both roaring with laughter there by the side of the pool. You had to laugh, if you wanted to survive.

I began to call friends and relatives. Some called me. They'd heard the news on the radio. Others just came by. I greeted each one in the foyer. Few words were spoken. Mostly, we embraced. People often say they don't know what to say to someone like me at a time like this. Nothing need be said. The presence of those you care about is comfort enough; a warm embrace communicates far more than words do.