““In the silence that followed, I was aware of just how much I wished things were different. I wanted to be able to talk to her, and tell her how afraid I was of what was going to happen, and have her tell me everything was going to be all right. But the way we'd always behaved stopped me, and all I could see were the barriers and walls I'd put up between me and my mother- casually, unthinkingly, not realizing that at some point I might want to take them down.””
