Jenny Knipfer QUOTES

1 " Maang-ikwe told me one night how I had sprung from a place of desire, anger, and fear. But my mother also told me, “It does not matter how we begin. It matters how we end.” She pointed out, “Pain brings a richer harvest than contentment.”

I think she was right. For as I look around at the people present, I am thankful for the harvest of lives which came birthed from painful places. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

2 " Just the right rock calls to me. I crouch and finger the worn, smooth spots on its oblong surface. Its weight rests in my hand for a few seconds, before I hurl the cold, blue stone into the lake and turn and walk towards home. My feet catch in the scrubby border of the pebbly shore. Evening approaches over Lake Nipigon, and the sky, the color of a beaver’s tooth, burns at the edge of the horizon in the last rays of the sun.
Why did she not want me? The question shadows every other thought in my mind and wounds my soul. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

3 " I imagined her taller.

My mother stands in front of me. She leans more of her slight weight
on her right leg. A hide pack rests against her back. The long skirt she wears touches almost to the ground; its fringe brushes the blades of green grass. A plentiful, red, calico blouse adorns the top of her body. It flounces out around her waist and makes her appear smaller, child- like. Her black, shiny braid of hair ropes around her shoulder. One small streak of silver hides in its weave. Her eyes meet mine. I don’t move, and neither does she. She has the blackest eyes I’ve ever seen.

Crow black. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

4 " I press her small hand between my large ones and linger a moment
before I let her go. I walk back to town somewhat deflated. Nothing was as I had expected, but, then, most of life usually takes one by surprise. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

5 " Three men and they all took something from me: my affection, my promise, and my innocence. What has love given me...? Nothing. Nothing but pain. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

6 " I rub my hand over my mother’s words. My throat clenches, and I hiccup, forcing back a sob. A tear lands on the lined page of the diary with a splat. The word “willow” starts to bleed with the moisture. I read through the entry once more. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)

7 " Thinking of that summer makes me remember the one before. I don’t recall what I had for lunch or what I watched on TV this afternoon, but I remember the day I tried to free myself from my sorrows under the weeping willow and the following summer among the flowers. Why is this so fresh and real of late? I don’t know. Maybe something I learned during that time will help prepare me for this journey into forgetfulness—the path I’m forced to walk on. Time is stealing my memories. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)

8 " She smiled and walked toward their little abode. Edward realized as he watched her sashay off through the tall grass that he’d say yes to almost anything his wife asked for. She captivated him, and he was thoroughly entrenched in love. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

9 " Why does Edward never sign his letters with “I love you”? Instead, he scrolls his salutation out with the words “Your husband,” as if I need to be reminded of who he is. Perhaps I do, for I’ve forgotten what his presence feels like, what it means for him to be my husband. Husbandry signifies care and tending, but he is far away. I’ve not been tended to. I feel like I have been forgotten. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

10 " The steam from the train curled around them, all-encompassing like the mist of early morning fog.
Edward gripped both of Beryl’s hands in his. “I’ll write.”
The promise fell heavy between them and rang dull. Edward knew his words wouldn’t make up for his absence. He wished for another way in which he could make the money they needed, but there simply was none. His gut wrenched, and guilt rose in his throat, choking him with uncertainty. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

11 " Edward read through his words again before sealing them up in an envelope. There were other words he wanted to say, but he didn’t know how. How could he tell Beryl that he missed the color of her eyes at night, her laugh when he made a joke, and even her chiding? Those were things he couldn’t write in a letter. He didn’t consider himself a romantic, and Beryl had known that when she had married him. June seemed like such a long time back to Edward, much longer than six months ago. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

12 " She leaned her head against his shoulder, hoping to remember his scent of freshly mown hay, bay rum, and hard work. He caressed the back of her neck.
“It won’t be long,” he comforted her.
They were empty words, which didn’t have a true, sure ring to them but sparked hope all the same.
“Take care of our little one,” he whispered in her ear.
Robin took a deep breath, steeling herself to be strong. She tipped up her head. “I will.”
Willis crushed a kiss to her lips. Robin didn’t care what any of them thought. The train whistle blew, and Willis released her. A chill breeze blew over the platform and made Robin tug her indigo-blue, wool sweater tighter around her expanding middle. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)

13 " Accusations cropped up in her thoughts. I should have checked on him before; I should have known something was wrong; I should have taken better care of him!!
Beryl nestled her lips close to the tender spot behind Lyle’s ear and kissed him. She breathed in the scent of him—powdery and soft, like the promise of spring rain—and keened quietly into the crook of his neck. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

14 " Did you name your little one?”
“Yes. Lyle.”
It felt good saying his name to another person. When people are remembered, they don’t truly pass away. A portion of them remains.
The thought gave comfort to Beryl. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

15 " Maybe I’m going crazy, but I swore I’d never go there again. I see the edge of the pond and feel the dangling willow branches tangle in my hair as if it were yesterday. The water pulls at me like Velcro, clinging, drawing me in. Why can I remember that from so many years ago and not where I put the bread today? I know one thing: They will not put me in an asylum for the mentally deranged. Not again. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)

16 " God does not desire evil for us. He wants to set our feet upon a sure path. This doesn’t mean we will not face trouble, only that He will be with us to guide us through it. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon #4)

17 " She collapsed on the floor in a fit of tears
and sobbed until no more came.
This is the end, then, she calculated.
She would sell and go back home where she belonged. Life
in Wisconsin had beaten them, and she surrendered with nothing but scars to show for it. "

― Jenny Knipfer , In a Grove of Maples (Sheltering Trees #1)

18 " Life’s not so much filled with good or bad things. They are just things, but . . . if we give our ‘things’ to someone bigger than us, they become . . . what makes us a better person. So even something we might deem as bad can be good. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Silver Moon (By the Light of the Moon #3)

19 " My day has just gotten brighter. It should bother me—the fact that I must feed my mother like a toddler, but I’m determined to celebrate the things she can still do and no longer grieve so hard over what she can’t. I don’t care as much anymore if she can’t remember who we are, or even who she is, as long as she’s getting some enjoyment out of life. That’s what matters. We can do the remembering for her. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)

20 " One of the things Mom’s journey with dementia has taught me is this: Life is in the small things, like the word “Amen”—a simple agreement, a yes to words prayed, and a statement claiming the promises of God.
I’ve cried and begged for Mom not to have to go through this valley of loss, but it has come regardless. Now my one plea is that—in all that she has or will lose—she will never lose the love of God and her family. That is a truth worth saying “Amen” to. "

― Jenny Knipfer , Under the Weeping Willow (Sheltering Trees #2)