Audrey Niffenegger

I am suddenly comsumed by nostalgia for the little girl who was me, who loved the fields and believed in God, who spent winter days home sick from school reading Nancy Drew and sucking menthol cough drops, who could keep a secret.

It's hard being left behind. (...) It's hard to be the one who stays.

There are several ways to react to being lost. One is to panic: this was usually Valentina's first impulse. Another is to abandon yourself to lostness, to allow the fact that you've misplaced yourself to change the way you experience the world.

Why is love intensified by absence?

Right now we are here, and nothing can mar our perfection, or steal the joy of this perfect moment.

It’s dark now and I am very tired. I love you, always. Time is nothing.

I never wanted to have anything in my life that I couldn't stand losing. But it's too late for that.

Chaos is more freedom; in fact, total freedom. But no meaning. I want to be free to act, and I also want my actions to mean something.

Don't you think it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?

I won't ever leave you, even though you're always leaving me.

I go to sleep alone, and wake up alone. I take walks. I work until I'm tired. I watch the wind play with the trash that's been under the snow all winter. Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by abscence?