--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm always wondering if he'll return…" description: "\"I'm always wondering if he'll return. Sometimes I pray that he doesn't. And sometimes I hope he will. I wish on falling stars and eyelashes. Absence is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/jacqueline-woodson-1482_absence_i-m-always-wondering-if-he-ll-return-som_1070917.png" --- # I'm always wondering if he'll return. Sometimes I pray… ![“I'm always wondering if he'll return. Sometimes I pray that he doesn't. And sometimes I hope he will. I wish on falling stars and eyelashes. Absence isn't solid the way death is. It's fluid, like language. And it hurts so much...so, so much.” quote by Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/jacqueline-woodson-1482_absence_i-m-always-wondering-if-he-ll-return-som_1070917.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/jacqueline-woodson-1482_absence_i-m-always-wondering-if-he-ll-return-som_1070917.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f65/jacqueline-woodson-1482_absence_i-m-always-wondering-if-he-ll-return-som_1070917.png) > “I'm always wondering if he'll return. Sometimes I pray that he doesn't. And sometimes I hope he will. I wish on falling stars and eyelashes. Absence isn't solid the way death is. It's fluid, like language. And it hurts so much...so, so much.” [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker grapples with ambiguous longing, hoping for return yet fearing loss, feeling emotional pain like fluid language. **In simple terms:** Mixed feelings of hope and fear about someone’s return. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty, express feelings. Themes longing hope loss ambiguity Mood melancholic reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - relationship uncertainty - grief processing - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts attachment impermanence emotional fluidity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance hope with fear? - What does fluid absence mean to you? A Different Perspective The emotional intensity may be amplified by personal projection, not just the situation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Doesn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doesn-hope-1433468/) [Eyelashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyelashes/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Falling star](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-star/) [Fluid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fluid/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Hurts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurts/) [I pray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-pray/) [It hurts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/it-hurts/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Return Pray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return-pray-2667608/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [Wondering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wondering/) ## Related quotes > [“But no one names a thing that doesn’t have hope. 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Missing You!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geet/don-t-forget-that-someone-somewhere-is-wishing-for-ur-happiness-on/) [Geet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geet/) > [Watching a peaceful death of a human being reminds us of a falling star; one of a million lights in a vast sky that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/watching-a-peaceful-death-of-a-human-being-reminds-us-of-a-falling/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) ## More by Jacqueline Woodson > [A lot of times, when people send me books to read - new writers mostly - I find that the book is still in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/a-lot-of-times-when-people-send-me-books-to-read-new-writers-mostly-i/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I think, even though homophobia still exists, there is much more of a dialogue and a taboo around being homophobic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-think-even-though-homophobia-still-exists-there-is-much-more-of-a/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I still love Carson McCullers and Raymond Carver and Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/i-still-love-carson-mccullers-and-raymond-carver-and-toni-morrison/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I'm usually working on several things at once. 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Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm always wondering if he'll return. Sometimes I pray that he doesn't. And sometimes I hope he will. I wish on falling stars and eyelashes. Absence isn't solid the way death is. It's fluid, like language. 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