"It's not about forcing happiness, it's about not letting sadness win".
"Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up".
"After all, if growing up is war, then the friends who grew up with you deserve a special respect. The ones who stuck by you shoulder to shoulder, in a time when nothing was certain, all life lay ahead, and every road led home".
"Sometimes to keep growing together, you have to grow apart. If you're lucky you can get a second chance with the one you love. Sometimes luck isn't enough. Love can kill you… It can tear you apart. But it can bring you back together".
"Things in life can get lost without any certainty of finding them again".
"I'd taken something most people never have and thrown it away for something less. I'd been so busy trying to impress the people that didn't really matter and I'd torn apart the only ones that did...us".
"Every war has its casualties, and every victory its price. But life goes on".
"Every kid needs a hero - everybody knows that. They teach us about courage, about ideals about life. Sometimes heroes are easy to spot. But sometimes they turn up in unlikely places."
"All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us."
"I'm not sure how I did it. My memory begins with the crack of the bat, and the sight of the ball rising. Maybe that's not exactly the way it happened. But that's the way it should have happened, and that's the way I like to remember it. And if dreams and memories sometimes get confused well... that's as it should be. Because every kid deserves to be a hero... every kid already is."
"Teachers never die. They live in your memory forever. They were there when you arrived, they were there when you left. Like fixtures. Once in a while they taught you something. But not that often. And, you never really knew them, any more than they knew you. Still, for awhile, you believed in them. And, if you were lucky, maybe there was one who believed in you."
"You start out life with a clean slate. Then you begin to make your mark. You face decisions, make choices. You keep moving forward. But sooner or later there comes a time where you look back over where you have been... and wonder who you really are."
"When you're a kid, it's simple. Christmas is magic. It's a time of miracles, when reindeer can fly, and Frosty never melts. Then you get older. Somehow, things change. The magic begins to fade. Until something happens that reminds you, at Christmas time... miracles still can be found. Sometimes in the most unexpected places."
"Over the course of the average lifetime you meet a lot of people. Some of them stick with you through thick and thin. Some weave their way through your life and disappear forever. But once in a while someone comes along who earns a permanent place in your heart."
"We took our time. There was no need to hurry. Didn't seem there was that much to go back to. Still, that night, driving home through the neighborhood I grew up in, I realized something. There was a time I knew every family on the block. Their kids, names of their dogs, but most of those families were gone now. Scattered. The ones who stayed were not the same. The world had moved on. My world... their world. And only the lights remained the same."
"But the thing is, that was all we did. Maybe it was happening too fast. Maybe we wanted to hold on to what we had. Or maybe we both knew there were other things we had to find before we found each other. All we really knew for sure was, as we sat there, looking out over the lights of the town where we had grown up together, it all felt right. It all felt...perfect."
"When you're a little kid you're a bit of everything; Scientist, Philosopher, Artist. Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time".
"Love is never simple. Not for fathers and sons. We spend our lives full of hope and expectations. And most of the time we are bound to fail. But that afternoon as I watched my father sheltering his son against a future that was so unsure, all I knew was they didn’t want to let each other down anymore".
"In 7th grade, who you are is what other 7th graders say you are. The funny thing is it’s hard to remember the names of the kids you spent so much time trying to impress".
"And so it finally happened. My poor, twelve-year-old heart finally crumbled into a little pile of dust and blew away. It was over. I was never going to get her back. It was time for a little self-respect. It was time to let go. Time to move on."
"Love can tear you apart, it can kill you. But if you're lucky, it can put you back together."
"And it was then I realized that I was only a part of the past, so there was nothing I could do but go. Except I didn't. . . I couldn't. "
