Jasmine

“Realizing your own mother was incapable of truly seeing you—of loving you for who you are rather than as an extension of herself—is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s the death of a fundamental childhood hope, the one where if you just try hard enough, Mommy will love you unconditionally. But in a strange way, this understanding has also been incredibly liberating. I now know that I could never have been “good” enough or “perfect” enough to make Ruby truly happy or proud. The insatiable void I was trying to fill wasn’t created by me, and it wasn’t mine to fix. That realization, as painful as it is, is the first step on the path to healing—for me, if not for her.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“Carlin often said that history was everything, for it was in man’s nature to make the same mistakes over and over.”
― Erika Johansen, The Queen of the Tearling

“From the very start, it seemed, my childhood was destined to be a fight for survival.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”
― Multiple Authors