She smiled at the memory, even as it saddened her to think that somewhere along the way their dreams had untangled, gone on separate paths.
I love you. I’m proud of you. I’ve never seen anyone so brave. Why was I so mean for so long? You gave me wings, Mom. Did you know that? I feel you here. Will I always?
She stayed in his arms as long as she could bear and then eased away.
Everyone broke – and held themselves together – in their own way.
The love, it comes in the beginning of her life and at the end of yours. God is cruel that way. Your heart, is it too broken to love?” “Of course not.” “So, you go on.” She shrugged, as if to say, Motherhood. “What choice is there for us?
Grief had become her silent sidekick. She felt its shadow beside her all the time.
Three years ago, I began writing this novel about hard times in America: the worst environmental disaster in our history; the collapse of the economy; the effect of massive unemployment. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the Great Depression would become so relevant in our modern lives, that I would see so many people out of work, in need, frightened for the future.
Seeing where we’re going ain’t any better than seeing where we’ve been. The view never changes.
In her lonely bedroom, surrounded by the novels that had become her friends, she sometimes dared to dream of an adventure of her own, but not often.
Many of them, like the pioneers who went west one hundred years before them, brought nothing more than a will to survive and a hope for a better future.
You’re always talking about my future. Your big dreams for me. College. How do you think I’m going to get there, Mom? By picking cotton in the fall and starving in the winter? By living on the dole?” Loreda moved forward. “Think about the women who fought for the vote. They had to be scared, too, but they marched for change, even if it meant going to jail. And now we can vote. Sometimes the end is worth any sacrifice.
People don’t lie accidentally. It’s not like tripping over a crack in the sidewalk.
It is simply the image of a woman who threw too much of her life away and was lucky enough to get some of it back.
Nina, you should never sing in front of people if they cannot leave.
In her hurt, she did what she’d always done: she disappeared. But all the while, she waited, prayed, that both her husband and her daughter would someday see how much she loved them and they would love her in return.
Mrs. Quisdorf picked that book out for you. That card, though, that’s the real gift. It can take you anywhere, Loreda.
Don’t worry about dying, Elsa. Worry about not living.
We fought, we struggled, we hurt each other, so what? That’s what love is, I think. It’s all of it – the dust, the drought, the fights with you – never once did I stop loving you or Ant or the farm.
The most amazing part of this science-fiction moment was that her mother actually believed what she just said.
No worries. We fought, we struggled, we hurt each other, so what? That’s what love is, I think. It’s all of it. Tears, anger, joy, struggle. Mostly, it’s durable. It lasts. Never once in all of it – the dust, the drought, the fights with you – never once did I stop loving you or Ant or the farm.