" Was this why she found it so hard to have a lasting relationship with someone? Subconsciously had she held back from experiencing that intense, terrifying depth of feeling? She moved through life with such purpose, she rarely stopped to reflect. Had she, somewhere along the way, rejected love?
Maybe not love, but vulnerability. She’d rejected vulnerability. She witnessed it constantly in her work. The fear in the face of a relative, the panic in the face of a patient who felt life sliding out of control.
Her experiences in her job had reinforced those same feelings of helplessness she’d experienced as a young child and she’d unconsciously wrapped her heart in layers of protection so that she felt the blows less.
She didn’t like feeling vulnerable, but she felt it now as she looked at her sister. "

― Sarah Morgan , A Wedding in December