“I want to be known and loved anyway.” (>>)

“I never want you to think that your mom is the villain in all of this.”
“Isn’t she?”
“No, it’s not that simple…”
“Yeah it is. The hero is the one that stays… and the villain is the one that splits.” (>>)

I’m renting out the other half of my Duplex. Here are the details if anyone is interested.

“…I’m not cheerful or domestic. I’m drab, crabby and friendless. I fill my days fighting a constant battle to keep my dignity. Loneliness is my curse–our species’ curse–it’s the gun that shoots the bullets that makes us dance on a saloon floor and humiliate ourselves in front of strangers.” (>>)

“I remember being single for so very long — I remember making mental lists of compromises I was willing to make in order to get me to 76.5 years without snapping. If I only go to see two movies a week, one by myself, one with a friend, that’ll make two nights of the week pass without quaking. Don’t phone my friends in relationships too often or I’ll look too desperate. Don’t become godmother to too many of my friends’ children or else I’ll become a maiden-aunt punch line. Don’t drink more than three drinks a night ever because I like drinking, and it could easily plaster over all of my cracks.” (>>)

“After a few minutes of this, Gary, Kent’s best friend, tinkled his glass and the group sat down. On easels up front were color photocopy enlargements of Kent’s life: Kent white-water rafting; Kent at a cigar party; Kent playing Frisbee golf; Kent and Barb lunching in a Cabo San Lucas patio bistro; Kent at his stag party, pretending to drink a yard-long glass of beer. Each of these photos emphasized the absence of similar photos in my own life.” (>>)

“Foy blinked, momentarily disoriented. Dwayne had suddenly disgorged this incredibly complex and personal issue along with all of its emotional and intellectual ramifications. It seemed like such a strange thing to do and so out of place. It was as if Dwayne had hoisted a live sea turtle onto the tabletop, then sat back waiting for Foy to do something. If there’s a sea turtle on the table, bawling and scrabbling around with its flippers, you have to deal with it.” (>>)