“She was saying goodbye and she didn't even know it.”

“but she realized that she wanted him to know her. She wanted him to understand her, if only because she had strange sense that he was the kind of man she could fall in love with, even if she didn't want to.”

“A mother knows what her child's gone through, even if she didn't see it herself.”

“When she packed up to leave, she knew that she was saying goodbye to something important, which was not that bad, in a way, because it meant that at least you had said hello to it to begin with…”

“She didn't even know how dangerous the truth could be, all the tiny, shattering seeds it carried.”

“I didn't even know why I liked her. She was just there. I was used to her.”

“The old lady knelt, saying her 'Hail Mary'; She didn't believe — but among Catholics even the sceptical are courteous.”

“She never came back. The family
Sort of drifted off. Nobody wears shiny boots like that now.
But I know she is beautiful forever, and lives
In a beautiful house, far away.
She called my name once. I didn't even know she knew it.”

“Why didn't he say goodbye?
I gave myself a bruise.
Why didn't he say 'I love you'?”

“Goodbyes were impossible, unless you didn't realize you were saying them.”