Diane

“You asked "Am I a good mother?," always the same, the same...
...answer that you were seeking, when you should have known that
You were the strength inside
You were all that I could become
You taught me the value of "sorry," but the only time you retreated was when you were taking aim
You taught me the humility of tears but never let me apologize for existing
You didn't dress me up in fragile garments, you gave me armor
You taught me that daughters don't have to have dreams-we can have goals.”
― Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

“I wish you courage
I wish you rushing blood
A heart that beats too hard
Feelings that make everything too hard
Love that gets out of control
The most intense adventures
I hope you find your way out
I hope you’re the kind of person
Who gets a happy ending”
― Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

“Do you think it’s possible to become a different person?"

She shakes her head, biting her bottom lip, and blinks so hard she can’t see the road in front of her. "No. But it’s possible to become a better person." Then he holds out a trembling hand. She holds it as if he were three years old, as if he were dangling over the edge of a cliff.”
― Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

“Have you ever seen a town fall? Ours did. We’ll end up saying that violence came to Beartown this summer, but that will be a lie; the violence was already here. Because sometimes hating one another is so easy that it seems incomprehensible that we ever do anything else.”
― Fredrik Backman, Us Against You