Scot Gerding

“There's no shame in surrender when it's time to stop fighting.”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus

“Most of all, I am thankful for Lily, who, since she entered my life, has taught me everything I know about patience and kindness and meeting adversity with quiet dignity and grace. No one makes me laugh harder, or want to hug them tighter. You have truly lived up to the promise of man’s best friend.”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus

“In my twenties, I had another terrible therapist...who concluded that since my mother never says "I love you" (at least not in the same way that other mothers do), there was going to be a limit to my ability to feel love. Love for someone, loved by someone. I was limited. And then on the very last night of my twenties, when I held my new puppy in my arms, I broke down in tears. Because I had fallen in love. Not somewhat in love. Not partly in love. Not in a limited amount. I fell fully in love with a creature I had known for all of nine hours.”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus

“A heart is judged not by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus