Karlen HK

“Grief is not an illness, a diagnosis, or a constant state. Grief is the bruise after a blow. Blackening is normal. Swelling is normal. Then a rotten sort of putrid. Then it sinks beneath the skin, failing to mark you anymore, failing to excuse you, returning you to the masses before you’re ready. You’ll miss the black and blue because as soon as it fades, you go from “honoring” to—as your onlookers might say—“dwelling,” that damnable word.”
― Kate Inglis, Notes for the Everlost: A Field Guide to Grief

“So what if this bunch of beautiful poseurs didn’t think I looked like much? I knew the content of my own character, and I didn’t need their approval.”
― Christina Henry, Black Wings

“Up until now, I thought I knew what was and wasn't possible. Maybe that's what innocence is, having no way to predict the pain of the future. When something happens that eclipses the imaginable, it changes a person. It's like the difference between a raw egg and a scrambled egg. It's the same thing, but it's not the same at all. That's the best way I can put it. I look in the mirror and I know it's me, but I can't quite recognize myself.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

“It is hard to bury your own children. It breaks your heart in a way no other death can ever do, for you are burying part of yourself in that grave.”
― Karen Maitland, Company of Liars