She Used To Tell Me That She

I'm An Insomniac Lately. It's One Of The Many Prizes You Find In The Cracker Jack Box Of A Crumbling [relationship].

...this Fear Was Unbearable. It Unwrapped Who She Was, As Neatly As He'd Unwound Her Bandage, Leaving Too Much Pain And Ugliness Exposed. Nerve Endings; He'd Said They Were The Problem [causing Phantom Pain In The Amputated Limb]." Things That Cut Off, That Ended Abruptly Or Died--like Parents And Marriages--kept Hurting Forever.

Before This Trip And All That She'd Learned About The Three Of Them, She Would Have Gotten Angry Or Changed The Subject. Anything To Obscure The Pain She Felt. Now She Knew Better. You Carried Your Pain With You In Life. There Was No Outrunning It.

Girls Like You Can't Understand," Julia Said, And It Was True. Ellie Had Been Popular. She Didn't Know That Some Hurts Were Like A Once-broken Bone. In The Right Weather, They Could Ache For A Lifetime.

The At-home Mother's Life: It Was A Race With No Finish Line.