--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember that day very clearly: I had…" description: "\"“I remember that day very clearly: I had received a phone call. A friend had been in an accident. Perhaps she would not live. She had very little face,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c2/maggie-nelson-4294_blue_i-remember-that-day-very-clearly-i-had-r_1663334.jpg" --- # I remember that day very clearly: I had received a phone… ![“I remember that day very clearly: I had received a phone call. A friend had been in an accident. Perhaps she would not live. She had very little face, and her spine was broken in two places. She had not yet moved; the doctor described her as “a pebble in water.” I walked around Brooklyn and…” quote by Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c2/maggie-nelson-4294_blue_i-remember-that-day-very-clearly-i-had-r_1663334.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c2/maggie-nelson-4294_blue_i-remember-that-day-very-clearly-i-had-r_1663334.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c2/maggie-nelson-4294_blue_i-remember-that-day-very-clearly-i-had-r_1663334.jpg) > ““I remember that day very clearly: I had received a phone call. A friend had been in an accident. Perhaps she would not live. She had very little face, and her spine was broken in two places. She had not yet moved; the doctor described her as “a pebble in water.” I walked around Brooklyn and noticed that the faded peri-winkle of the abandoned Mobil gas station on the corner was suddenly blooming. In the baby-shit yellow showers at my gym, where snow sometimes fluttered in through the cracked gated windows, I noticed that the yellow paint was peeling in spots, and a decent, industrial blue was trying to creep in. At the bottom of the swimming pool, I watched the white winter light spangle the cloudy blue and I knew together they made God. When I walked into my friend’s hospital room, her eyes were a piercing, pale blue and the only part of her body that could move. I was scared. So was she. The blue was beating.”” [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator finds moments of vivid color and beauty amidst tragedy, suggesting that perception can transform suffering into a sense of the divine. **In simple terms:** Beauty can appear even in painful moments. Key Takeaway Notice small wonders during hardship. Themes grief perception beauty spirituality Mood reflective hopeful somber Type personal poetic philosophical When to use this quote - hospital visit - walking in city - gym - swimming pool - artistic observation Key Concepts Phenomenology aesthetic response transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice beauty when faced with loss? - Can color perception change your emotional state? A Different Perspective The intense emotional context may limit the ability to fully appreciate the described colors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Blue Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-knew-782519/) [Bluets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bluets-21841/) [Body Scared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-scared-782518/) [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Colour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colour/) [Friend Accident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-accident-782516/) [Gas station](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gas-station/) [Maggie-nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maggie-nelson-115734/) [Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nelson/) [Phone call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone-call/) [Scared Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scared-blue-782515/) [Swimming pool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swimming-pool/) [Yellow Showers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yellow-showers-782517/) ## Related quotes > [“I want you to know, if you ever read this, there was a time when I would rather have had you by my side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/i-want-you-to-know-if-you-ever-read-this-there-was-a-time-when-i/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Eventually I confess to a friend some details about my weeping—its intensity, its frequency. 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Because any time I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-i-m-the-only-one-in-this-family-who-has-no-problems-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [it'll be this kind of deep blue”she said. “The kind of color that somehow sucks your eyes and your ears and all your words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/it-ll-be-this-kind-of-deep-blue-she-said-the-kind-of-color-that/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The grape Hyacinth is the favorite spring flower of my garden - but no! 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