I'm young as morning and fresh as dew. Everybody loves me and so do you. - Maya Angelou

Death of a beloved flattens and dulls everything. Connections do not adhere so closely, and important events lose some of their glow.

To be allowed, no, invited into the private lives of strangers, and to share their joys and fears, was a chance to exchange the Southern bitter wormwood for a cup of mead with Beowulf or a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist.

I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.