“Her father sagged as relief spread through him. “I thought
something awful was happening.”
She frowned. “Something awful was happening. It could have
got stuck in my hair.”

“And when something awful happens, the goodness stands out even more…”

“Cheer up. You never know — maybe something awful will happen tomorrow.”

“Lena knew she had spent too much of her life in a state of passive dread, just waiting for something bad to happen. In a life like that, relief was as close as you got to happiness.”

“That prison," I said with heartfelt sincerity, "Was absolutely the most awful thing that has happened to me in my entire life." I could tell by the way he looked at me that he thought my life had been filled with one awful thing after another.”

“Everything in life has some good in it. And when something awful happens, the goodness stands out even more--it's sad, but that's the truth.”

“She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.”

“Who would have thought something that happened that long ago could have such power?”

“Last time I talked to her she didn't sound like herself. She's depressed. It's awful what happens when people run out of money. They start thinking they're no good.”

“And then something truly bizarre happened. I could feel his touch through our eyes. I couldn't look away from him.”