“Once, in grade school, our class was taken on an overnight excursion to a campground. The air was warm: we had a campfire and ate hot dogs; and as darkness fell, we were herded down to the lake. There were perhaps thirty children, so I suppose there were at least four or five adults. We trooped through the woods with flashlights. There must have been yelling and singing, the grown-ups chattering. A noisy expedition. At the shore of the lake we were presented, as if on a stage, with a doubled moon -- one floating in the clear dark sky, one in the clear dark calm of the water. Were there exclamations, shouts of amazement, loud giggle praise for this sight? There might have been, but for me there was only silence. An unprecedented silence, tranquil and immense. Silence, and the moon on the lake -- a sight so pure I nearly staggered under its impact. I knew, without the words to say it, that the lack in my life of what this moon and lake represented was the other side of the coin of happiness. Not unhappiness, but shame, which was possibly the same thing, and which then rose up in me in nauseating waves.” HappinessSoundSilenceMoonReflectionShameOpposition Author:Norma Fox Mazer
“That night, stargazing on the deck with Dad, eyes on the sky, he pointed out Orion, Betelgeuse. "It's an art to read the stars, baby." I never wanted to leave his side-my sure song for so long. Now? His eyes are stone changed. Just looking at them hurts my heart.” HeartPoetryFatherChangeHurtDadPoemEyesStarts Book:What I Believe Source: What I Believe
“A piece of writing takes exactly as long as it needs to be done right.” NeedsWritingLongDonePieces Author:Norma Fox Mazer
“All the inane, meaningless noises people make that pass for intelligent conversation. They might as well be pigs grunting in the pen. (92)” PeopleWellsMightConversationIntelligentNoisePensMeaninglessPigsIntelligent Conversation Author:Norma Fox Mazer
“I guess, really thinking about it, I always assumed when you missed someone , it was tangible...something real you could grab and hold on to, but it's a not-there feeling.” ThinkingRealFeelingsTangibleReal YouSomething Real Author:Norma Fox Mazer
“Friendship...is like pain. Explaining it is impossible.” PainImpossibleExplaining Author:Norma Fox Mazer
“That adolescent me, the girl who was, as I remember her, insecure, unsure, dreaming, yearning, longing, that girl who was hard on herself, who was cowardly and brave, who was confused and determined-that girl who was me-still exists. I call on her when I write. I am the me of today-the person who has become a woman, a mother, a writer. Yet I am the me of all those other days as well. I believe in the reality of that past.” WritingBelieveWellsPersonsStillsHardDreamRealityTodayPastRememberMotherGirlI BelieveLongingBraveI Believe InDeterminedConfusedYearningInsecureCowardlyThat GirlUnsure Author:Norma Fox Mazer
