Author: Ann Patchett

Like swallows, like salmon, we were the helpless captives of our migratory patterns. We pretended that what we had lost was the house, not our mother, not our father. We pretended that what we had lost had been taken from us by the person who still lived inside.

“Kevin and May still like us”, Celeste would say. “That’s not always going to be the same”.

Don’t let yourself get upset. People who get upset only make more work — I equated my ability to be effective with my ability to stay calm, and time and time again it proved to be the case.

There are thousands of ways your body can go off the rails for no reason whatsoever and chances are you won't know about any of it until it's too late.