Joy

“I understood now that all of us have that place inside that wants to be part of something, that needs the comfort and companionship of loved ones. Within each of us, there is an empty room, and when we open the door, light flows in. The wider we open it, and the longer we leave it open, the brighter our souls become.”
― Lisa Wingate, Tending Roses

“To my grandmothers,
for tilling the soil in which we grew and for watering our roots with stories of all the old things”
― Lisa Wingate, Tending Roses

“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered…”
― Lisa Wingate, Tending Roses

“But is life a success when it doesn’t include time for after-school talks, and curling up to read books on winter nights, and weaving daisy chains in the summer? Is it a success when you have all the big things but none of the small ones? Is it as it should be when everybody grows up and moves to opposite coasts and doesn’t care if they ever see each other?”
― Lisa Wingate, Tending Roses