Don’t let him lead you astray, my child. He’s such a wicked man, woof! - Edmund White

I still feel like a young girl, as though everything is about to happen.

He thought to himself, I’ll never be this perfect again, an idea that made him sad.

Of course I don’t expect you to have any feelings for me, since I abandoned you when you were a baby. Nor do I feel any great maternal love for you. I know that very few women would speak this way — would permit themselves to — but when you were born, it was too late for an abortion and adoption was impossible in your father’s family. It’s not as if I ever had some great mission in life. I wasn’t an actress or a scientist or a writer or even a philanthropist. I had no goal, no destiny. But I knew that, restless as I was, I could bring you nothing but misery.