ACL

“What we take for granted—that another day would come. Everyone had to know in their bones that every life hung by a thread. That the world did. But if we couldn’t pretend to count on a morning of sailing, or fishing, or a visit with someone we loved the next day, we’d go nuts, right? Right. So pretend away.”
― Peter Heller, Burn

“that what seemed solid and eternal probably wasn't, and that love could run very, very deep and also end.”
― Peter Heller, Burn

“and it broke his heart-- in the quiet, gentle way a heart can be broken by the same person again and again.”
― Peter Heller, Burn

“And then he thought how there were never any do-overs. What felt like do-overs never were, because scar tissue is not elastic and it has many fewer nerve endings to feel with, or it may be numb and not feel at all. One can tell oneself that some post-catastrophe peace or measure of contentment has more value than euphoria; that arriving at some balance, some equanimity after storm, is deeper than flitting flushes of joy, because the peace is so well earned; but none of that is true. To honor love is the only way to keep it alive. To honor anything.
—Jess”
― Peter Heller, Burn