Quotes About Family

He imagined that one day he'd hear that his parents were gone and feel only a vague sense of loss. How could you mourn something you'd never really had?

When people talked about family as something special, a place where you belonged, a dull anger nipped at Henry, a feeling that he'd been cheated of this basic comfort.

My family traditions are alcoholism and dysfunction," Jennifer said. "Oh, and anything you can make from government cheese.

In the firelight, Mother's elegant handwriting dances on the page.

Tu madre y yo no aprobamos el alcohol. ¿No has oído hablar de la Decimoctava Enmienda? - ¿La de la ley seca? Bebo a su salud siempre que puedo.

I can't stay long. I told my mother I was attending an evening Mass with Henry and Evie at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Henry put a hand to his chest in faux shock. You used the Lord to lie to them? I'll just stand over here in case you're struck by lightning.

That clan always had deep pockets and shorrrt arrrms.

What a touching domestic scene! I suppose the demographers have you classified as an untraditional family: one man, two cats." "One man, two animal companions," he corrected her.

My father was often angry when I was most like him.

friends, and, of course,—he glanced toward their sleeping daughter—the love of a father and mother for their child. All these taken together, with all the joy and pain that they confer—that can save us, surely. Love of life, Alix. You have it. And since I've found you, so do I.

Living in a family where all the interactions are superficial and shallow can cause a wound that may limit capacity for meaningful connections with others. Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, rejection, extreme punishment, humiliation, ridicule, and abandonment can also be the source of unhealed wounds.

The old barn had a history. Nine-year-old Sally Ferman had heard all of the stories, and every single one scared her. Her dad told her that the farm was originally owned by a young German immigrant by the name of Hans Schneider. He built a cabin and married a French woman, Rebecca. They had three sons, and over the years, Hans and his boys built the barn, raised cattle and sheep, and grew tobacco and corn

though, which emerge most sharply from this incident. The workmen's resentment at Milbourne's efforts to add some distinction and ornament to his family's stark lodgings (and perhaps also

Do you build up or do you destroy? What do you communicate to your husband when he walks in the door after work? Genuine encouragement, or dissatisfaction? Does your face light up when he talks to you, or does he see sneers and a lack of trust? A man can have everything outside of the home, but if the sincere respect of his wife and children is missing, he can be totally emasculated.

She spread her arms wide to encompass the old pine table they had painted robin's egg blue, lightly sanding it in places so the white primer showed through. She had pulled out Aunt Evie's moss green platters and bowls, filling enough of them with everything from cheesy quiches to creamy chocolate pies, butterscotch cupcakes to the beef bourguignon to cover every inch of counter space. The place smelled heavenly.

Do I like living with Daniel's family? No. Would I ever tell him that? No. I know I'm all about honesty and saying what I think, but sometimes people are more important than the truth.

He used you, yeah. But what if you hadn't come? My family would have run again, but we would never have been free. We would never stop hunting us. I know. I thought of my frustration in Paris and I couldn't even imagine how sick of running Seth must be. That's why I had to come. His eyebrow cocked upward. And here I thought you came to see me.

this single memory, coupled with the others of Mother masturbating on me early in the mornings, or in front of me when I was small, was ample.

One afternoon Mother called to tell me she expected me to testify against my father: "I need you to say that you witnessed him beating me up, that I was afraid for my life.

I did not want to be recognized as "Anne Sexton's daughter," and I was running from that label as hard as I could.

No daughter would ever want to know these intimate details about her mother's life.

Every month I watched my father scrape to pay his bills, sending Mother a monthly child-support check from which neither Joy nor I ever saw a dime.

Well, you've done it now, was her sisterly opening shot. Jaine rubbed between her eyebrows; a definite headache was forming. After the exchange with David, she waited to see where this one was going. I won't be able to hold up my head in church. Really? Oh, Shelley, I'm so sorry, Jaine said sweetly. I didn't realize you have the dreaded Limp Neck disease. When were you diagnosed?

You didn't think I'd let the backstabbing little hussy get away with it, did you? Not that I don't love Jenni, but she's the baby of the family, and she thinks she should get anything and everything she wants. Occasionally she has to be shown differently.