Gayle Forman Quotes

Growing up, there were a lot of funerals that I attended, and the adults at the funerals went out of their way to make sure that I wasn't traumatized or overly depressed by them. So death is always a celebration of life for me, and it's also hugely dramatic.

A terrific sadness swept over Jerry. As if somebody had died. The way he felt standing in the cemetry that day they buried his mother. And nothing you could do about it.

I have to say that since my mother died, I am not the same person anymore. My life has changed a great deal because it's really unbearable to think you can't see her anymore or talk to her anymore.

This is what you should know about losing someone you love. They do not travel alone. You go with them.

I thought I'd become a funeral director when I wasn't going to be an actor. I thought I would be good at helping some people with the grieving process and with trying to get them to talk about and understand who this person was.

I lost my dad. He lost his tomorrows and I lost all the tomorrows with him. You could say that now, I appreciate them when they come. Now, I want to make them the best they can possibly be.

I had a brother who died early on - he was 23 when I was 19. And, boy, I certainly didn't expect that. That was utterly shocking.

It's always difficult when someone close to you passes away. But it's really tough when they're on top of you.

When someone close to you dies, move seats.

It's hard to make progress with grief.

Yes, my mother's death is a terrible sorrow to me. I feel - do you know what I mean - the silence of it so. She was more alive than anyone I have ever known.

Grief is not productive. It simply represents an inefficiency in accepting change of status.

Your dad didn't die, so I won't be able to explain it to you.

How families deal with loss, everyone has their own process.

Losing a parent is something like driving through a plate-glass window. You didn't know it was there until it shattered, and then for years to come you're picking up the pieces -- down to the last glassy splinter.

The hardest obstacle I've ever had to overcome in my life is losing my mom four years ago. I wouldn't even say that I've overcome it, really. I don't imagine that I ever will.

Grief, he said, is carnivorous.

I think losing a loved one must be a little like losing a leg. First there is the shock, then the anesthetic, and the painkillers; the attention of doctors and nurses, flowers and cards and visits from friends. But sooner or later you have to learn to walk without it.

When your mother dies, it really hurts. But with time, you get used to it. That's nature's way.

A lot of people ask me about my father's passing when I was young, which I'm never comfortable with. I invariably move around that subject.

I went on spouting bullshit Encouragements as Gus's parents, arm in arm, hugged each other and nodded at every word. Funerals, I had decided, are for the living.

I think the big thing would be maybe the death of my brother. That was the hardest thing for me to take. It was very tough because that's natural and he saw a certain potential and he would say, don't ever have a drink. Now, I don't carry that far with people. I never had a drink.

A sea of red lights, and I slow down. My job now is to gather everyone together and tell them we have to let her go. I won't tell anyone over the phone, because I didn't like hearing the news from the doctor that way. I have maybe a week to handle the arrangements, as the doctor said, but the arrangements are overwhelming. How do I learn how to run a family? How do I say goodbye to someone I love so much that I've forgotten just how much I love her?

Grief,she reminded herself, is almost always for the mourner's loss.

I had known a couple of people who had died, but the loss of my mother contained something of the profoundly unknowable.