" Caroline wiped her cheek with the back of her gardening glove, leaving a dark smudge below one eye, then pulled off her gloves.

'But it's fitting in a way - Father loved the fact that a lilac only blossoms after a harsh winter.'

Caroline reached over and smoothed the hair back from my brow with a light touch. How many times had my mother done that? 'It's a miracle all of this beauty emerges after such hardship, don't you think? "

― Martha Hall Kelly , Lilac Girls