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She was nearly seventy years old. There was no time left for regret or misgivings, no time for dreams of what might have been.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Please, Lord, answer this one small prayer. Not just for me, but for Cara. Help me play with my child once more before I die. Bring my Cara home.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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the measuring tape and saw Michael standing alone on the small rise. The man seemed a part of the scenery as he stood, hands on hips, his hair whipped by the wind like the meadowsweet at his feet, his jaw set like the granite rocks. "He must love his job," she said to Bobby. Bobby looked up and followed her gaze to his brother, standing"
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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no time for dreams of what might have been. There were plans to be made. The beach house --and all the secrets it held-- had to be placed in secure hands. Too much had been sacrificed for too many years to let the secrets slip out now. Too many reputations were at stake. She had but one hope. "Lord," she prayed, her voice raspy in her tight throat. "I'm not here to complain. You know me better than that after all this time. But the Bible sa..
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to live another day." Then she smiled with introspection. "Another summer." For"
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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When would he learn humility?
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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she'd neglected to make choices for her inner self as well. She'd given away too much.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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was flying by, and if she couldn't find a way to forge bonds between her granddaughters, Mamaw knew that come September, Sea Breeze would be sold, the girls would scatter again, and she'd be sitting on the dock howling at the harvest moon. The previous May, Mamaw had invited her three granddaughters--Dora, Carson, and Harper--to celebrate her eightieth birthday at Sea Breeze. She'd had, however, an ulterior motive. In the fall, Marietta was..
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Life is a series of risks. Trust, and you'll sometimes be hurt. Love, and someone will die. Life is joy and pain. If you don't risk the pain, you lose out on the joy. This was Seth's final lesson to us.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Don't fear death. Death is life's companion. If you fear death, you fear life." His hand tightened on her chin. "Nora, don't be afraid to live."
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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was a man with whom she could join hands and build a life of trust, and honor and mutual respect. Could she really believe that such a life was possible? Opening
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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When she died, what would matter except that she loved and was loved in return?
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Whatever it was inside of me, whatever kernel deep inside that enabled me to believe in fairies, in Peter, in the Neverland itself, this was my source of strength. No one could ever take that away from me. As long as I believed, no matter where I was or with whom, I'd always belong. Because I was at home in my own heart." Wendy"
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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real courage is belief in yourself. To face and defeat your fear, or be defeated by it.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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But strength without flexibility makes one hard. Come September, when those fierce winds blow in from the sea, those hardwoods crack, splinter and fall. But the pliant palms are resilient and they bend with the wind. This is the secret of a Southern woman. Strength, resilience and beauty. We are never hard.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Sometimes she's so stuck up she'd drown in a rainstorm.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Why hadn't she believed she could do it? As soon as she asked the question, she knew the answer. Fear. Fear of failure. Fear of not being perfect. Fear was at the root of her problems. The bedrock of her timidity. The
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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the pain eased. "Welcome to the club."
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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His mother, in contrast, prayed in church.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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But now her children were grown-up and she felt every inch of the distance between them, stretching further over the years.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Today was the first day of summer, she realized, her spirits lifting like a kite. She loved milestones of any sort: birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, checks on the calendar, notches on a growth chart. Today would be special, brand new. She felt it deep inside. Summer was here with sunny days and balmy nights, the informality of barbecues and dips in the swimming pool. She was so relieved to have the grind of the school year finished. She ..
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Whatever it was inside of me, whatever kernel deep within that enabled me to believe in fairies, in Peter, in the Neverland itself, this was my source of strength. No one could ever take that away from me.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Why didn't you tell me? It's all such a complicated mess." "Most lives are if you live long enough, my darling." "I've"
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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A woman saw those turtle tears and instinctively knew that the turtle mother wept for her children. A mother knew of all the predators that awaited her young, of the swift currents that might lead them astray, of the dazzle of dangerous lights, of the complicated nets that could entangle them and of the many years of solitary swimming. She wept because she could not protect them from their fate.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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How ironic she thought, to store the past but never tend to it. ~ Mary June
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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not so heartbreaking. So it was with me after Tom's death. In retrospect, I look at myself and my friends and I think that some of us are offered early warnings. The death of a loved one, a serious illness, the struggle of a marriage, or the despair of loneliness--as tragic as these events are, they serve to box us in as clearly as any clever plot structure, forcing us to make a choice. I choose to live. Each day to the hilt. I want to hug ..
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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This magical song took them all far from the muted peace of the suburban blocks they were familiar with, far, farther back to their youth, when they were smooth skinned, slim and sassy, when they walked the city streets with swinging hips, when their worlds delivered pearls.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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You don't have to say thank you. I'm your mother. It's my job. My pleasure.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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It gives us a better perspective of our place. We hold our history so dear, our politics so tight. But in the fullness of time, all histories fade. Rome, Ephesus, the Incan and Mayan cultures. The wheel of time turns round and round and proves change is part of nature. The problem comes in trying to interfere with nature or to think we know more than nature. Our failures are humbling. The more I learn, the more I see that, in the end, natur..
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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waves
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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To feel nature as a child is much more important than just being able to list names of birds, or plants or animals. That kind of heart isn't something you can teach a child in books.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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The beach, the ocean, solitude--these are only a means to help you travel to the true peace and joy inside you. You must carry the magic in your heart, wherever you go.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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short laugh. "Time will tell with you and Bobby Pearlman,"
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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People give pain, are callous and insensitive, empty and cruel . . . but place heals the hurt, soothes the outrage, fills the terrible vacuum that these human beings make.' " She put her hands on Dora's shoulders. "Do you know who said that?" "No." "Your namesake. Eudora Welty."
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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and highlighted with bold streaks
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Life, if lived well, was enjoying random acts of kindness that elicited joy from giver and receiver alike. Each time she was reminded of this, she vowed to try to be a better giver than a receiver.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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The butterfly is the totem of transformation and change and a symbol of courage.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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In every life, there was death and rebirth and continuity.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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The secet to happiness is to embrace the humility to accept what comes and the courage to continue on your life's path with an open heart
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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worry about you, Caretta. You are a strong woman, true enough. But strength without flexibility makes one hard. Come September, when those fierce winds blow in from the sea, those hardwoods crack, splinter and fall. But the pliant palms are resilient and they bend with the wind. This is the secret of a Southern woman. Strength, resilience and beauty. We are never hard.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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they can come down to your flat for a visit, and, worst of all, all they can talk
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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It was the very image of innocence. I wanted to remember this moment always, to look at it when I needed something good to hold on to.
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family
stronger
mental-illness
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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She captured the singular moment in her mind, with the sun shining on their faces, knowing she'd keep it in her memory forever like a treasured photograph.
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Mary Alice Monroe |
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Intuition guides us and the wise person listens.
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Mary Alice Monroe |