““I'm only leaving you for a handful of days, but it feels as though I'll be gone forever—- the way the door closes behind me with such solidity, the way my suitcase carries everything I'd need for an eternity of traveling light. I've left my hotel number on your desk, instructions about the dog and heating dinner. But like the weather front they warn is on its way with its switchblades of wind and ice, our lives have minds of their own.””
![“I have dreamed of our bed as if it were a shore where we would be washed up, not this striped mattress we must cover with sheets. [from "After an Absence"]” quote by Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/41e/linda-pastan-28836_absence_i-have-dreamed-of-our-bed-as-if-it-were_1737263.jpg)
