" She remembered something her father had told her as he knelt at the hearth one evening, building a fire. Holding up the cut end of a log, he showed her the rings inside, explaining that each one marked a year. Some were wider than others, depending on the weather, he said; they were lighter in winter and darker in summer. All of them fused together to give the tree its solid core.
Maybe humans are like that, she thought. Maybe the moments that meant something to you and the people you've loved over the years are the rings Maybe what you thought you'd lost is still there, inside of you, giving you strength. "

― Christina Baker Kline , The Exiles