Mariana’s Reviews > The Road to Tender Hearts > Status Update

“They’re not, Dad. Kids aren’t resilient. That’s something adults like to say to make themselves feel better. To pretend that kids don’t feel as deeply as adults do. But kids are everything that happens to them. They’re sponges. Everything bad, everything good. Every hurtful thing you say. Every loving one.”

"But PJ didn’t say any of that. This was Destiny’s life and her tragedy, not his. “I’m sorry,” he said instead. “That’s a shit deal you’ve been given.”"

"PJ didn’t really know what he believed about the afterlife or God or any of it; it had been hard to believe in a higher power after Kate died, but he also didn’t like to think that Kate’s spirit, that her soul, was gone completely."

“You’ll need something,” he said. “If you expect to be happy. My dad always said a person needs three things to be happy: something to do; someone to love; and something to look forward to.”

"It was a scary and confusing place, where it had always felt like anything could happen at any time, and you didn’t know when you woke up if it would be a good day or a bad one."

My kid heart felt this