Love Quote by Khaled Hosseini
““Only two weeks since he had left, and it was already happening. Time, blunting the edges of those sharp memories. Laila bore down mentally. What had he said? It seemed vital, suddenly, that she know. Laila closed her eyes. Concentrated. With the passing of time, she would slowly tire of this exercise. She would find it increasingly exhausting to conjure up, to dust off, to resuscitate once again what was long dead. There would come a day, in fact, years later, when Laila would no longer bewail his loss. Or not as relentlessly; not nearly. There would come a day when the details of his face would begin to slip from memory's grip, when overhearing a mother on the street call after her child by Tariq's name would no longer cut her adrift. She would not miss him as she did now, when the ache of his absence was her unremitting companion—like the phantom pain of an amputee. Except every once in a long while, when Laila was a grown woman, ironing a shirt or pushing her children on a swing set, something trivial, maybe the warmth of a carpet beneath her feet on a hot day or the curve of a stranger's forehead, would set off a memory of that afternoon together. And it would come rushing back. The spontaneity of it. Their astonishing imprudence... It would flood her, steal her breath. But then it would pass. The moment would pass. Leave her feeling deflated, feeling noting but a vague restlessness.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, 2007
Grief lingers, resurfacing unexpectedly, yet fades over time as memories soften and life moves forward.
In simple terms: Grief returns in moments, then eases.
Accept grief, allow memories to ebb.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- daily chores
- parenting
- unexpected triggers
- loneliness
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you notice grief in everyday moments?
- What helps you let go when memories surge?
Grief may never fully disappear, only change form.