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1 " The thing is, not every happily ever after needs to end with a Prince Charming "
― Kristin Harmel , The Life Intended
2 " You have to be absolutely sure. Otherwise, regret will grow in spaces you don’t even know are there. "
3 " endless moments like this stretching before us. I loved him deeply, but I never really knew that every second we had together was a gift until he was gone. "
4 " I think its just human nature to wish that the people who are gone from our lives are going to come back. "
5 " It occurs to me how mundane this moment would be if this was really the life I was living. "
6 " You know, I truly believe adoption is one of the greatest unheralded blessings in the world," she continues, her expression turning earnest. "Think how beautiful it is to give a child a home and to become a family because you choose to! Maybe that's the best way to make a family, don't you think? "
7 " So you can't compare the present with the past, not really, because you're a different person than you were [when Patrick was alive]. You have to look forward to the things you want, not back at the things you once had. "
8 " ... It's a tradition my great-grandfather started almost a hundred years ago, after my father was born. He gave my father fifty newly minted silver dollars and explained that each time something really amazing happened to him, he had to return one of the dollars to the universe so that someone else could wish on it." I smile, recalling how Patrick had once told me a story of his grandfather standing on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1936 and throwing a silver dollar into the water after his beloved Yankees won the World Series. They won it for the next three years too, and his grandfather always believed that it was his coins - good luck returned to the universe - that kept their streak alive...... My father always used to tell me that if you keep the coins, you throw things out of balance... It's all about passing the luck on and thanking the world for whatever good things have happened to you. "
9 " It reminds me suddenly that in real life, Patrick and I used to fight sometimes, big and messy...And I hadn't been scared to argue with him, because I'd never feared him walking away. So why am I so scared to fight with Dan now? Or with anyone in my life, for that matter? I've spend the last decade thinking of myself as even-tempered and reasonable. But what if I've just been a chicken? What if I'm so terrified of losing the people I love that I've been slowly giving away pieces of myself just to avoid confrontation? "
10 " I know she loves One Direction and that her favorite member is Louis, because he’s the mature one. "
11 " It was 11:04 when Patrick walked through the door that final night almost a dozen years ago. I remember "
12 " It's not the life I planned, but somehow, it's the life I was intended to have. And now, finally, I'm ready to embrace it. "
13 " The thing is, not every happily ever after needs to end with a Prince Charming,” I say after a pause. “I already had my prince, and if there’s another one out there, great. But I’m not sitting around waiting to get rescued. It’s time that I’m the one doing the saving. "
14 " The bumps in the road have a funny way of turning into stepping stones "