Quotes from Karen White

A strong breeze pushed at the martin houses strung from the old oak tree below. Watching them, Ceecee remembered the story Margaret had told her long ago, about how the small birds relied on others to make their homes for them. It made sense to her now, knowing that so much of life was reliant on things outside of oneself, how the whims of others dictated people's hearts and lives. How dreams and wishes were just so much dust when held against the will of another human being.

Weeds could be pulled and new seeds planted, hardened soil tilled and watered to make a fertile bed. Water could be piped in to make an old fountain cascade for the first time. Perhaps my relationship with my mother could be tended in the same way, with care and patience used to rebuild the bedrock of a mother-child bond that had been broken nearly thirty-three years before.

I met his gaze, unable or unwilling to hide my shame and embarrassment. That I had allowed it to happen to me. Then, and now. Because there was no sense in concealing so many years of being stupid and naïve and listening to no one brave enough to tell me differently. It was humbling to admit to myself that I hadn't changed at all.

It's not about how well I did. It's about how far I've come, and how far I still have to go. It's about being okay with not being the best, because there are a million and one things out there to try until I do find the thing that I'm good at and that makes me happy.

Sharing the good and bad times with a lifelong friend made the business of living a lot more bearable.

It's easy to be kind and giving and loyal when you have everything. But the mark of a true friend is when everything is taken away and you're still kind, giving, and loyal." "Margaret's going through a

But I don't believe in luck. I believe that love creates good fortune and builds empires, and it's doubt and envy that destroy both.

Who will sit on the porch with him then?

It wasn't that I didn't believe in the tree's power. But I believed in the power of human imagination more, of projecting our dreams and wishes into a safe space where we could place our disappointments if they didn't come true.

asking for help doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong enough to know you can't handle it all on your own.

Life is like that, I suppose: always slapping you in the face when you least expect it.

She doesn't like most people," Lily said as she pulled open the bedroom door. "She says she finds most of them a vexation to her spirit

Margaret Darlington had the kind of power that made sane people do insane things.

I think we're all born with an internal compass that leads us to where we're meant to be. And whether it's a good place or a bad place, there's nothing you can do about it. I think our best friends are the people whose compasses are pointed in the same direction. That's how we find one another

We are born to fight the bends and curves of our own rivers, pushing back that which will not give, understanding where we are meant to be only when we let go and let the river take us back tot he place where we began.

Home is a place that lives in one's heart, waiting with open arms to be rediscovered.

And sometimes home is where one finds it, in the heart of another person who will always believe you are worthy of love.

Life's journey doesn't mean much without friends who love you to come along for the ride.

She had always scorned Hamlet, just a little. Five acts of vacillation, scene after scene of contemplation instead of action, putting on

This is not LA, people. We shine instead of sparkle, we smile and bless their hearts instead of giving the finger. Like my mama taught me about wearing jewelry: Put on everything you want to wear, and then take one thing off.

Love is knowing something is true deep in your heart despite all evidence to the contrary.

often thought the same thing, but

You were never a disaster. Ever. It seems to me that the more we try to dissect our pasts, the more we try to go back and relive them. Trust me, it's more important to pick up the pieces and move forward and live our lives the best way we can. I've never been a fan of leftovers.

again. Before closing the door I waited