--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On the way home I thought: How strange. I…" description: "\"“On the way home I thought: How strange. I didn't even mention my breakdown today. Perhaps the period of mourning is over. I can get back to my normal,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/ellen-wolfe-235557_grief_on-the-way-home-i-thought-how-strange-i_1010997.jpg" --- # On the way home I thought: How strange. I didn't even… ![“On the way home I thought: How strange. I didn't even mention my breakdown today. Perhaps the period of mourning is over. I can get back to my normal, lifelong problem: how to be a woman without hating yourself for being only a woman.” quote by Ellen Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/ellen-wolfe-235557_grief_on-the-way-home-i-thought-how-strange-i_1010997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/ellen-wolfe-235557_grief_on-the-way-home-i-thought-how-strange-i_1010997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/364/ellen-wolfe-235557_grief_on-the-way-home-i-thought-how-strange-i_1010997.jpg) > ““On the way home I thought: How strange. I didn't even mention my breakdown today. Perhaps the period of mourning is over. I can get back to my normal, lifelong problem: how to be a woman without hating yourself for being only a woman.”” [Ellen Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A reflection on mourning, self‑acceptance, and navigating womanhood without self‑hatred. **In simple terms:** Healing from grief and embracing identity. Key Takeaway Cultivate self‑compassion and resilience. Themes grief identity self‑acceptance Mood reflective hopeful Type Grief:1 Hating yourself:0 Thought:0 Way home:0 Thought Strange:0 Breakdown Today:0 Mourning Normal:0 Period Mourning:0 When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - support groups Key Concepts mental health gender studies personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What steps help heal after loss? - How can one foster self‑acceptance? A Different Perspective May be overly personal for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breakdown Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakdown-today-2196083/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Hating yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hating-yourself/) [Mourning Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mourning-normal-2196084/) [Period Mourning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/period-mourning-2196085/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-strange-781587/) [Way home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-home/) ## Related quotes > [ Despite our preparation, indeed, despite our age, \[the death of a parent\] dislodges things deep in us, sets off reactions that surprise us and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/despite-our-preparation-indeed-despite-our-age-the-death-of-a-parent/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“For it was extraordinary to think that they had been capable of going on living all these years when she had not though of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-it-was-extraordinary-to-think-that-they-had-been-capable-of-going/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Mother Teresa was asked what was the meaning of life, and she said to help other people, and I thought, 'What a strange thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/mother-teresa-was-asked-what-was-the-meaning-of-life-and-she-said-to/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [He realized now that a lot of the problem had been his own mind, which was usually moving at a speed ten or twenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/he-realized-now-that-a-lot-of-the-problem-had-been-his-own-mind-which/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I never thought anything was strange in Puerto Rico other than the big mosquitos; because I was born there, nothing was really foreign to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-giraud/i-never-thought-anything-was-strange-in-puerto-rico-other-than-the/) [Joyce Giraud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-giraud/) > [Most of us pass our lives never once laying eyes on our own organs, the most precious and amazing things we own. Until something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/most-of-us-pass-our-lives-never-once-laying-eyes-on-our-own-organs/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [“I thought that it was strange to assume that it was abnormal for anyone to be forever asking questions about the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/i-thought-that-it-was-strange-to-assume-that-it-was-abnormal-for/) [Eugène Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [“I wonder how he felt at night. When the star-filled sky blanketed him, did he ever think about what his life was like before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-e-watson/i-wonder-how-he-felt-at-night-when-the-star-filled-sky-blanketed-him/) [Renée Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-e-watson/) > [More people thought I was strange because I was a teenage novelist, not because I was from Oklahoma. That's where I got the looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-hinton/more-people-thought-i-was-strange-because-i-was-a-teenage-novelist/) [S. E. Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-hinton/) > [I thought it was strange that I was called after a woman who killed herself in ancient literature. You just don't call your kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dido-armstrong/i-thought-it-was-strange-that-i-was-called-after-a-woman-who-killed/) [Dido Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dido-armstrong/) > [For the longest time I didn't realize I was creative - I just thought I was strange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/for-the-longest-time-i-didn-t-realize-i-was-creative-i-just-thought-i/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [I thought how strange it had never occurred to me before that I was only purely happy until I was nine years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-thought-how-strange-it-had-never-occurred-to-me-before-that-i-was/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [But he thought all the strange words were beautiful, and he had never had a book of his own before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/but-he-thought-all-the-strange-words-were-beautiful-and-he-had-never/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) > [I have often thought how strange it is that men can at once and the same moment cheerfully consign our sex to lives either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-power-cobbe/i-have-often-thought-how-strange-it-is-that-men-can-at-once-and-the/) [Frances Power Cobbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-power-cobbe/) > [It’s strange,” Moominmamma thought. “Strange that people can be sad, and even angry because life is too easy. But that’s the way it is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/it-s-strange-moominmamma-thought-strange-that-people-can-be-sad-and/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“On the way home I thought: How strange. I didn't even mention my breakdown today. Perhaps the period of mourning is over. 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