Liam Learned That It Was Possible To

The Measure Of A Society Is Its Compassion.

Time Goes Too Quickly. This Is The Advice That My Mother Should Have Given Me From Her Hospital Bed. Instead Of Vague, Unknowable Quips Like "be Careful What You Wish For," She Should Have Told Me Time Slides Away On A Hillside Of Loose Shale And Takes Everything In Its Path - Dreams, Opportunities, Hopes. And Youth. It Takes That Fastest Of All.

I Might Screw Up, I Might Embarrass You, I Might Yell At You, But I Will Never, Ever Stop Loving You. You're My First Born. The First Time I Held You... I Fell In Love So Hard It Cracked My Bones.

They Would Always Be A Family, But If She'd Learned Anything In The Past Few Weeks It Was That A Family Wasn't A Static Thing. There Were Always Changes Going On. Like With Continents, Sometimes The Changes Were Invisible And Underground, And Sometimes They Were Explosive And Deadly. The Trick Was To Keep Your Balance. You Couldn't Control The Direction Of Your Family Any More Than You Could Stop The Continental Shelf From Breaking Apart. All You Could Do Was Hold On For The Ride.

We Women Make Choices For Others, Not For Ourselves, And When We Are Mothers, We...bear What We Must For Our Children. You Will Protect Them. It Will Hurt You; It Will Hurt Them. Your Job Is To Hide That Your Heart Is Breaking And Do What They Need You To Do.