Quotes from Dorothea Benton Frank

Mother of the groom. Wear beige and shut up.

If these walls started talking, the entire Island would be put under quarantine while the government moved in an army of psychiatrists.

Larson would kick my butt! This is good.

different. Let's give up meat and dairy." "Except for bacon and yogurt.

Naturally, we shopped, we had lunch, we did homework and we cleaned closets together. But beyond those mundane amusements—and

actually, I came here because of Skipper." "That was awfully nice! How's he doing? I'm going

Fortitude is a value missing in our society today. There is a reality about sticking things out for a better day to dawn that is not cliché, but honest-to-God good advice that we should all weigh and consider

I would talk to him over breakfast and try to gauge how he was handling his life. Life is a struggle, I would tell him. Some days are better than others, and every person's life is bittersweet, filled with joy and pain.

Dreams made your eyes sparkle over the possibilities of doing something new and exciting. Reality made the rest of you break a sweat in panic.

No," I said and smiled. "I just happen to like the taste of that particular grape." "Oh?" "Yeah. I think chardonnays are too oaky and heavy and German wines are too sweet. But if my roommate and I are sharing a bottle of something, it's usually on sale

DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK Bulls Island The Christmas Pearl The Land of Mango Sunsets Full of Grace Pawleys Island Shem Creek Isle of Palms Plantation Sullivans Island

He had reframed himself in my mind as a thickheaded man who couldn't conceive that his words and actions hurt me deeply, benign as he may have thought they were. The consequences were that what he had done changed the way I felt about him. And a halfhearted apology wouldn't restore my love for him.

It's a funny thing about a good porch overlooking the ocean. It was great in hot weather when you needed shade. It was good when it rained to be close to nature but stay dry and safe. It was soothing in the dark, or it could be a place to whisper secrets late at night. So

You could tell a lot about the soul of an organization by the reading material in its waiting area.

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back to, and reasons to stay.' I just always loved

Yeah, I know." The poor girl. I felt very bad

As long as she loved my boy, I loved her. If she broke his heart, I'd kill her with my bare hands. This seemed reasonable to me. But

Did my daughter, my only child, think she was going to take control of her wedding, without me?

Some people are just like that, Abigail. If it's good for them, then it's good. If it's bad for them, then it's bad. They rearrange morality to suit their ambitions. Nat simply

See them stars starting to twinkle? They's Gawd's diamonds. You 'eah me? And the night sky turning so blue? That's He sapphires for us.

at my age, if I were sexually harassed, I'd send the guy flowers

What possible difference did it make where somebody sat on a bus, or which water fountain somebody used? Most of all, I'd be thoroughly and permanently reviling my grandfather's guts if he pitched a fit over the soon-to-be-built bathroom being used by our soon-to-start new housekeeper. I thought that it must be hard for old people to know when they were being horrible and old-fashioned.

knew she had a nest egg?

This was the thing about family heirlooms: humble or grand, they made the past alive again.