79 Quotes by Paula Stokes

When I woke up after my stroke, I felt like the life I’d always planned for was impossible, likeeverything I’d ever wanted was suddenly out of reach, and would be forever. But maybe I waswrong. Maybe everything is still there, and all I have to do is find my way back to it.

What so many people don’t understand is that the reason some of us do things that seem impossibly hard to others is because we don’t have a choice.

Maybe I could dole out the truth in tiny pieces that, once assembled, would make a picture that resembled a reality in which I hadn’t done anything wrong.

The truth never hurts worse than finding out someone you care about lied to you.

Jesse stirs again. This time his fingers twitch. As much as I want to see him open his eyes, I can’t be here for that. It’ll make leaving him too hard. I turn toward the doorway and I’m outside in the main room of the ICU when I hear his weakened voice say, “Winter?”I hurry back to the waiting area. Hopefully he’ll think he dreamed me. Maybe he did. Sometimes I feel like I’m not even real anymore

Time doesn’t heal anything. It’s like drinking. The best it can do is help you forget, if you’re lucky.

How does the world even keep going with so much pain and tragedy everywhere?

So what if I’m right?” I dig in my purse for a few singles, flopping back to our conversation about Seth as if we’d never changed the subject. This is a thing I’ve found only best friends can do—press pause on a conversation and then press play again at any moment.

If you asked me whether I was the type of person who liked trying new things or preferred sticking with what was familiar, I would have told you I was the second girl. The if –it-aint-broke-don’t-fix-it girl. I also would have told you plays were lame. It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t seem to know very much about…me. It’s a weird feeling, like maybe a stranger is inhabiting my body. Or maybe a stranger was, and I kicked her out.