North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both

“Sometimes I feel like I’m defined by what I’ve survived, and I’m not sure if I like that.”

“I love that there are labels for all this stuff. All this time I thought I was so freakishly unique.”

“Don't mistake silence for lack of compassion.”

“As my husband passes by me, he brushes my lips with a kiss. My children’s laughter fills the air. Gulls circle overhead. I stand with sand beneath my feet and the sun warm on my head. There’s rarely a moment of this life of mine that goes by unappreciated.”

“I thought about my mother, who, though she had made her share of mistakes with me, had refused to let her darkest experiences ruin her life. And in that way, her time on earth had perhaps been more successful than my own.”

“She will never be the mother you want. I don’t think you’re the only person in the world with that complaint. That doesn’t mean she can’t add value to your life.”

“If I could just forget that we weren’t supposed to be there, everything would be perfect.”

“Welcome this, he said to me, for life lessons come by experience and not by chatter.”