“Stella, I never knew you but here I am, in your room, a week after your death. … I thought of you, Stella, and wondered if you watched your moments, or if they all snuck by. I whispered your name into the day, carried on for you in reverence, and I felt you rest and continue the smile.”

“You know these things as thoughts, but your thoughts are not your experiences, they are an echo and after-effect of your experiences: as when your room trembles when a carriage goes past. I however am sitting in the carriage, and often I am the carriage itself.”

“I am yours," he whispered. "I live to hold you, Risa. I breathe to touch you.”

“You are always in my thoughts. When you were little, I knew your whereabouts at any given moment. Now that you are… off on your own, I still always know where you are, because I keep you in my heart.”

“Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful… How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural--you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”

“I am — your Bliss
I am — your Smile
I am — your Joy
I am — your Rest
I am — your Strength
I am — your Valor
I am — your Wisdom”

“I wish I could be the best smile you carry engraved inside your heart.”

“Come here instantly. Come here at once and make your submission, or I will in a week tear you from the midst of your village and hang you.”

“Never forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.”

“The Wonder of it All:
Sitting there in your pajamas & all the time in the world & if I could keep any moment it would be this: watching you & holding my breath with the wonder of it all.”