Quotes from Jennifer Richard Jacobson

For a few moments I want to be 5 years old again. I want someone to plunk me down in front of a Disney movie and ask me if I want apple juice or grape.

Elephants love reunions. They recognize one another after years and years of separation and greet each other with wild, boisterous joy. There's bellowing and trumpeting, ear flapping and rubbing. Trunks entwine.

Elephants can sense danger. They're able to detect an approaching tsunami or earthquake before it hits. Unfortunately, Jack did not have this talent. The day his life was turned completely upside down, he was caught unaware.

I smile and tell her that all kinds of valuable things are around us - we just have to open our eyes" -Ari

When you first look down, you see everything — and nothing. It's as if your eyes can see only grayness. But if you tell yourself that there's treasure at your feet, your eyes will begin to see differences in the shades of gray: silvery cracks, charcoal pebbles, ashy litter. Then, when you find your first glimmering coin, your brain will understand exactly what you want, and it will start to find coins everywhere. It just takes patience.

There's no better feeling than looking into a dog's eyes. It's like they fetch all the love you can possibly throw out and then give it back to you. That, and they know all your secrets." -Ari

That folder represents a me that no longer exists. I'm not embarrassed of her, but at the same time, I no longer want to be her. I've moved on" -Ari

I like to think that even these people, whose hardships seem to come all at once, might get to experience the same number of joys in their lives as everyone else (and sometimes those feelings of joy pop up smack in the middle of hardship). And on the flip side, people whose lives seem perfect might also be suffering in ways we don't see, or might face hardships down the road." -Ari

You can be your best self wherever you are.

But I like to think that even these people, whose hardships seem to come all at once, might get to experience the same number of joys in their lives as every else (and sometimes those feelings of joy pop up smack in the middle of hardship). And on the flip side, people whose lives seem perfect might also be suffering in ways we don't see, or might face hardships down the road." -Ari

All of our longings are trapped in circles where there is no beginning and no end.

I so wanted him to be my boyfriend-m destiny. But I realize now that destiny sort of implies that you don't have to figure things out for yourself. It suggests the promise of not making a mistake...the same as my boyfriend list. If I've learned anything this summer, it's that the more I insist on things being the way they're supposed to be, the more I'm prevented from seeing (and accepting) things the way they really are." (pg. 240)

And maybe, just maybe, by letting go of who you think you should be, you become more of who you are meant to be." (pg. 249)