--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's…" description: "\"“I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's trick, except this is real. Who are you if you lose your favorite person? Can you lose your favorite person with..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/jerry-spinelli-1413_brokenhearted_i-m-disappearing-leo-like-dootsie-s-tric_2148207.jpg" --- # I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's trick, except this… ![“I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's trick, except this is real. Who are you if you lose your favorite person? Can you lose your favorite person without losing yourself? I reach for Stargirl and she's gone. I'm not me anymore.” quote by Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/jerry-spinelli-1413_brokenhearted_i-m-disappearing-leo-like-dootsie-s-tric_2148207.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/jerry-spinelli-1413_brokenhearted_i-m-disappearing-leo-like-dootsie-s-tric_2148207.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a6/jerry-spinelli-1413_brokenhearted_i-m-disappearing-leo-like-dootsie-s-tric_2148207.jpg) > ““I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's trick, except this is real. Who are you if you lose your favorite person? Can you lose your favorite person without losing yourself? I reach for Stargirl and she's gone. I'm not me anymore.”” [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity can feel lost when a beloved person disappears, raising questions about selfhood and dependence. **In simple terms:** Losing a loved one can make you feel lost. Key Takeaway Explore identity beyond relationships. Themes adolescence loss identity dependence Mood melancholic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - teenage friendships - grief counseling - self-discovery workshops Key Concepts psychology attachment theory self-concept Questions to Reflect On - What parts of yourself remain when a loved one is gone? - How can you rebuild identity after loss? A Different Perspective The quote assumes loss always erodes self, which may not hold for all. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brokenhearted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brokenhearted/) [Disappearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappearing/) [Disappearing Leo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappearing-leo-4504496/) [Favorite person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favorite-person/) [Lose Favorite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-favorite-3004600/) [Losing yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losing-yourself/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Stargirl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stargirl/) [Stargirl Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stargirl-gone-3004599/) ## Related quotes > [Who are you if you lose your favorite person? Can you lose your favorite person without losing yourself? I reach for Stargirl and she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/who-are-you-if-you-lose-your-favorite-person-can-you-lose-your/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Nobody has the time, the time cannot be owned. The time is free to everyone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/nobody-has-the-time-the-time-cannot-be-owned-the-time-is-free-to/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“I’m not sure,” she said. “There’s no one answer to that. You have to find your own way. Sometimes I try to erase myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/i-m-not-sure-she-said-there-s-no-one-answer-to-that-you-have-to-find/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/in-our-minds-we-tried-to-pin-her-to-a-corkboard-like-a-butterfly-but/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I faced the gaudy sunflower on her canvas bag -- it looked hand-painted and at last my eyes fell into hers. I said, 'Thanks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/i-faced-the-gaudy-sunflower-on-her-canvas-bag-it-looked-hand-painted/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I have to tell you I love living in a world without clocks. The shackles are gone. I’m a puppy unleashed in a meadow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/i-have-to-tell-you-i-love-living-in-a-world-without-clocks-the/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Stargirl began to improvise. She flung her arms to a make-believe crowd like a celebrity on parade. She waggled her fingers at the stars.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/stargirl-began-to-improvise-she-flung-her-arms-to-a-make-believe/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [When a stargirl cries, she sheds not tears but light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/when-a-stargirl-cries-she-sheds-not-tears-but-light/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“So, I said, when does the enchantment start? We were sitting side by side, facing the mountains. "It started when the earth was born."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/so-i-said-when-does-the-enchantment-start-we-were-sitting-side-by/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [of all the unusual features of Stargirl, this struck me as the most remarkable. Bad things did not stick to her. Correction: her bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/of-all-the-unusual-features-of-stargirl-this-struck-me-as-the-most/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“You be you and I'll be me, today and today and today, and let's trust the future to tomorrow. Let the stars keep track…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/you-be-you-and-i-ll-be-me-today-and-today-and-today-and-let-s-trust/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“Their voices came in clearly from the golf course. The laughing and yelping made a raucous counterpoint to the metronomic tock-tock-tock of the bunny's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/their-voices-came-in-clearly-from-the-golf-course-the-laughing-and/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/she-was-elusive-she-was-today-she-was-tomorrow-she-was-the-faintest/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [You’ll know her more by your questions than by her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day you might see someone you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/you-ll-know-her-more-by-your-questions-than-by-her-answers-keep/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I’m not my name. My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn. I outgrow it, I change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/i-m-not-my-name-my-name-is-something-i-wear-like-a-shirt-it-gets-worn/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) ## More by Jerry Spinelli > [“He still heard his mother's voice--"Davey"--rise like whisper-dust from unseen corners in the house, but it was no longer the only voice he heard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-still-heard-his-mother-s-voice-davey-rise-like-whisper-dust-from/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“That was fifteen years ago. Fifteen Valentine's Days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/that-was-fifteen-years-ago-fifteen-valentine-s-days/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“History sits on our shoulders, while reading opens our hearts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/history-sits-on-our-shoulders-while-reading-opens-our-hearts/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Nobody has the time, the time cannot be owned. The time is free to everyone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/nobody-has-the-time-the-time-cannot-be-owned-the-time-is-free-to/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [You’ll know her more by your questions than by her answers. Keep looking at her long enough. One day you might see someone you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/you-ll-know-her-more-by-your-questions-than-by-her-answers-keep/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“When you're inside your own story, you don't see things like a reader. You don't see your life in tidy paragraphs and chapters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/when-you-re-inside-your-own-story-you-don-t-see-things-like-a-reader/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [Nobody knows who said it first, but somebody must have: 'Kid's gotta be a maniac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/nobody-knows-who-said-it-first-but-somebody-must-have-kid-s-gotta-be/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“There's nothing sadder than a sobbing waffle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/there-s-nothing-sadder-than-a-sobbing-waffle/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“But feelings, they don't care about telling. They just go right on, piling on top of one another like a big sandwich.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/but-feelings-they-don-t-care-about-telling-they-just-go-right-on/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“chewed time like a wad of bubble gum and stretched it across the darkness all the way to dawn, when the light at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/chewed-time-like-a-wad-of-bubble-gum-and-stretched-it-across-the/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [He was the Grand Marshall of our Everyday Parade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-was-the-grand-marshall-of-our-everyday-parade/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“When the sun is a bike ride away, I will hear it. It will sound like wind in treetops. I will awaken.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/when-the-sun-is-a-bike-ride-away-i-will-hear-it-it-will-sound-like/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“I had to get out. Move. I ran through neighborhoods, other lives, other worlds. Solipsism. A man on his lawn mower. Green and yellow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/i-had-to-get-out-move-i-ran-through-neighborhoods-other-lives-other/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [He tapped my chest. 'Happy is here.' He tapped his own chest. 'Here.' I looked down past my chin. 'Inside?' 'Inside.' It was getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-tapped-my-chest-happy-is-here-he-tapped-his-own-chest-here-i/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/she-was-elusive-she-was-today-she-was-tomorrow-she-was-the-faintest/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) [Explore all 244 Jerry Spinelli quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) ## More Brokenhearted quotes > [I dont care how brokenhearted someone is if they wanted to be with you they would because the love they feel for you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/i-dont-care-how-brokenhearted-someone-is-if-they-wanted-to-be-with/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [“But brokenhearted was brokenhearted. Never embraced. Never treasured. Never easy. Heath figured every human being had a certain amount of God-ordained grace to endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hauck/but-brokenhearted-was-brokenhearted-never-embraced-never-treasured/) [Rachel Hauck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hauck/) > [The best way to heal a heart that has been broken, is to kill that person who has made it happen - :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lol/the-best-way-to-heal-a-heart-that-has-been-broken-is-to-kill-that/) [Lol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lol/) > [“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; which means that if the rest of us want to get close to God, we seek them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-arthur/the-lord-is-close-to-the-brokenhearted-which-means-that-if-the-rest/) [Sarah Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-arthur/) > [To be an actor, a true actor, you have to be brokenhearted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/to-be-an-actor-a-true-actor-you-have-to-be-brokenhearted/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [We are inlove and brokenhearted is the same, we can't sleep,and same hesitate!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/we-are-inlove-and-brokenhearted-is-the-same-we-can-t-sleep-and-same/) [Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/) > [Leaving a love you've suddenly outgrown can be heartbreaking, but it also shows you're strong enough to walk away from a relationship that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah/leaving-a-love-you-ve-suddenly-outgrown-can-be-heartbreaking-but-it/) [Oprah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah/) > [I told myself a while back, 'Love what you do, but don't fall in love with what you do.' That way you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-fillion/i-told-myself-a-while-back-love-what-you-do-but-don-t-fall-in-love/) [Nathan Fillion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-fillion/) > [“mnY reason of b"kup, but it hurts moRe when you don"t know evN a single-1. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sumit-choudhary-c2/mny-reason-of-b-kup-but-it-hurts-more-when-you-don-t-know-evn-a/) [Sumit Ð choudhary c2](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sumit-choudhary-c2/) > [...when your heart is broken, don't go silent - speak to God in his own language...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/when-your-heart-is-broken-don-t-go-silent-speak-to-god-in-his-own/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [I asked Shia: who is the guy that terrifies you the most? And he said Mads. So it was somebody we both really wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredrik-bond/i-asked-shia-who-is-the-guy-that-terrifies-you-the-most-and-he-said/) [Fredrik Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredrik-bond/) > [“Isn't it amazing... how this life will break your heart, but then there's no special lane for the brokenhearted. There's no special lane for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/isn-t-it-amazing-how-this-life-will-break-your-heart-but-then-there-s/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Ps. 34:18)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scotty-smith/the-lord-is-near-to-the-brokenhearted-and-saves-the-crushed-in-spirit/) [Scotty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scotty-smith/) > [I don't want to be depress but why am I still listening to these brokenhearted songs? I guess they were written for me so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakii-retondo/i-don-t-want-to-be-depress-but-why-am-i-still-listening-to-these/) [Rakii Retondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakii-retondo/) > [R.I.P to those who doesn't have a sense of appreciation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sole-heiress/r-i-p-to-those-who-doesn-t-have-a-sense-of-appreciation/) [Sole Heiress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sole-heiress/) [Browse all 77 Brokenhearted quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brokenhearted/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I'm disappearing, Leo. Like Dootsie's trick, except this is real. Who are you if you lose your favorite person? Can you lose your favorite person without losing yourself? I reach for Stargirl and she's gone. 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