Gina Schmidt

“a collective sigh of relief, as if a cactus had just left a room full of balloons.”
― Allen Levi, Theo of Golden

“The way you spend your days is the way you spend your life.”
― Emma Straub, This Time Tomorrow

“all her life, she’d thought of death as the single moment, the heart stopping, the final breath, but now she knew that it could be much more like giving birth, with nine months of preparation. Her father was heavily pregnant with death, and there was little to do but wait”
― Emma Straub, This Time Tomorrow

“Blessed is that family where there are old people, says an ancient proverb, and happy the children who heed the counsel of the old, for it's as if they had already enjoyed a long life. Love your grandparents, children, for they love you as the sons and daughters of their sons and daughters, and hence with a double tenderness. If you see they love your company, don't leave them alone, and when it's their birthday, never forget to with them many happy returns, 'A hundred more happy returns, Granny and Granddad!”
― Tim Parks, An Italian Education