Alyssa

“life—and the law—is hard on women. Sometimes doing the right thing is no help at all.”
― Kristin Hannah, The Great Alone

“Did my mother ever get to see a cicada molting? Did she wish that she could do exact that? Shed her skin and be someone new? There were days when she seemed to transform into something quieter, darker. Her colors deeper but also muted. Both her truer self, and not. Or maybe it wasn't a transformation. Maybe it was a momentary reveal. A peeling back of the protective layers. A sharpening of a pencil, bringing the tip to its most focused point.”
― Emily X.R. Pan, The Astonishing Color of After

“Once you figure out what matters, you'll figure out how to be brave.”
― Emily X.R. Pan, The Astonishing Color of After

“There's no point in wishing. We can't change anything about the past. We can only remember. We can only move forward.”
― Emily X.R. Pan, The Astonishing Color of After