“Wyatt told me once that if tenderness were a disease, I’d be terminal.” — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“With a damp palm, I turned the knob and cracked open the door. She was asleep in her freshly made bed. I… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Uncommon anxiety came to us in common hours when other people were doing mundane things like taking out the trash or checking… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“It was an oddly satisfying idea to feel bereft as I left my mother this time. We only feel bereft when we’re… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Hearing my brother’s words coming out of Henry, this stranger in a strange town, made me feel wild with all the loss—wild… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“My mom told me once that Wyatt loved her the way a boy will love his mother, but I loved her the… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Every moment of our lives we make choices. Most we don’t even know we’re making, they’re so dull or routine or automatic.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“But I understood, now, that we don’t live only for ourselves. We’re connected by millions of shared experiences and dreams and nightmares,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Most kids grow sullen and angry when they’re working through issues, but Thanet mustered up another kind of bull-headed strength. The kind… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“When Dad was in the middle of a description of the hotel’s laundry facility, I interrupted. “Why haven’t you told me today,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’m not sure about all the particulars that led to this moment. Do I believe life is a series of dots to… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“We formed an impromptu circle just so we could look at each other and memorize faces. We hardly noticed the waiting officials.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“We bumped into other silent lines of kids going in the same direction. We looked like we were much younger and our… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“But with her eyes closed, she began to whisper. “If you have someone to love, then love. If you have someone to… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“We all think when we’re young that we want excitement and highs and passion. To hell with ordinary.” I smiled and she… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Sometimes, in the stillness of my room, my mom’s voice came to me, repeating things she’d said for months. Like, “My skin… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“My mom was sitting at the kitchen table. She’d set her coffee down, making a noise that made me look her way.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’d felt this before, when my granddad was in the hospital before he died. We all camped out in the waiting room,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“The ice cold fear I’d felt, not knowing if Wyatt was alive, pressed into the wall with other girls and surrounded by… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“It was the first time I discovered that some girls actually sneak out of the house during slumber parties and meet up… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I worried I would miss it, and I knew, from losing Wyatt, that things happen the moment the soul is released. Wyatt… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“But I understood, now, that we don’t live only for ourselves. We’re connected by millions of shared experiences and dreams and nightmares, all tied… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Let’s go to town,” Jo said. “Take me to eat dinner at the hotel.” I sucked in a breath and stared at her for… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I turned my ear toward the door because I heard him breathing. When you’re alone and afraid, the simple sound of the steady in… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Every moment of our lives we make choices. Most we don’t even know we’re making, they’re so dull or routine or automatic. Some are… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“He’d had to fold his long legs into his desk. His boots had seen better days, and his jeans unraveled in a curiously irresistible… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I reached down and picked up a baseball bat at my feet and I flung it as hard as it could. It circled and… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I finally understood why so much monkey business happened in the backs of buses. Put us in close proximity, with wheels spinning under us,… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Here’s what I learned about life when we were going through that. We’re all human and mortal. We’re all going to suffer and die.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“His room was dark until he switched on his desk lamp. I sat on the floor next to his bed and watched him counting… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I could’ve gone on and on but the truth was all that mattered. “My brother died because someone was jealous.” — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“I’d known cruelty in a school—cruelty that would keep these amateurs up all night. But this kind of scene—crowds batting around a person because… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
“Uncommon anxiety came to us in common hours when other people were doing mundane things like taking out the trash or checking their phones.… — Laura Anderson Kurk Copy Share Image
