#end

I was stunned. I pulled the phone away and looked quizzically at the hole-punched speaker. Aside from the blood obligation to be my sister's maid of honor, it had never occured to me that I would get asked to be in anyone's wedding. I thought we had reached an understanding, the institution of marriage and I. Weddings are the like the triathlon of female friendship: the Shower, the Bachelorette Party, and the Main Event. It's the Iron Woman and most people never make it through. They fall off their bikes or choke on ocean water. I figured if I valued my life, I'd stay away from weddings and they'd stay away from me. ↗

— Sloane Crosley

#triathlon #weddings #friendship

All my life, I thought I was this independent woman. I was on all the right committees, made speeches for all the right causes, traveled all over the world. I had my little part-time job, I made all my own decisions, but . . . there was always someone there to fall back on when things went bad. Funny, how after so many years of marriage you don’t think about how much you depend on the other person until . . . well, until they’re gone. And then of course there’s just the whole system in the city. Your doctor, your pharmacist, your plumber, your vet . . . there’s always someone there. You never have to find out . . . how much you can’t do. ↗

— Donna Ball

#womanhood #funny

I have never bought into the idea that blood is thicker than water. Love and respect are meant to be earned from our children, our spouses, our families, and our friends. ↗

— Raquel Cepeda

#friendship #love #relationship-advice #relationships #respecting-others

My family of friends has kept me alive through lovers who have left, enterprises that have failed, and all too many stories that never got finished. That family has been part of remaking the world for me. ↗

— Dorothy Allison

#family

We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep. ↗

— William James

#friendship #sea #friendship

In families like Fred's, much of a child's identity and his illusions of safety depend on feeling enmeshed. He develops a need to be a part of other people and to have them be a part of him. He can't stand the thought of being cast out. This need for enmeshment carries right into adult relationships. ↗

— Susan Forward

#family

Does your family play games, too?" She tries to sound off-hand. "No. Just me - and my brother." Which means her parents are in the casinos, then, leaving this kid in a collapsing mine. Okay, a virtual one, but still. ↗

— Nenia Campbell

#kavi #nenia-campbell #vol #family

I don't know how to be anything but pretend," I replied, and it ached in me how true that really was. "But if I could be real, I'd be real for you. ↗

— R.J. Anderson

#friendship #love #milo #niki #quicksilver

If you don't believe in yourself, who will?' ~Maybeck ↗

— Ridley Pearson

#crazy #disney #friendship #magic #night

To celebrate the Fourth of July meant something definite in those days. ↗

— Carol Ryrie Brink

#history #independence-day #past #family