Cessa Montgomery

“You think weakness is a problem. I want to be torn apart by everything.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir

“Nothing is too ugly for this world, I think. It’s just that people pretend not to see.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries

“In white culture, forgiveness is synonymous with letting go. In my culture, I believe we carry pain until we can reconcile with it through ceremony. Pain is not framed like a problem with a solution. I don’t even know that white people see transcendence the way we do. I’m not sure that their dichotomies apply to me.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries

“I look for external validations of worth, and I always end up crazy over it,” I said. “It’s good you can acknowledge that,” Terri said. “How long have you been doing that?” “My whole life. Isn’t that what we learn as children? To look for affirmation in the external? Our fathers and mothers?” I said. “Some children are taught self-esteem from a young age,” she said.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir