“By 'stay,' do you mean forever?" I mean to ask but don't. Stay till I die? Till I am too old to take care of myself, like my father? "For now." is my answer, but I don't know, not really. If moving to New York at age forty-eight taught me anything, it is that I am capable of starting over in a new place. And yet, the thought of leaving it, of knowing how much I would miss, is too painful to contemplate. I remember how Wendy once told me she loved New York so much she couldn't bear the thought of it going on without her. It seemed like both the saddest and the most romantic thing one could possibly say—sad because New York can never return the sentiment, and sad because it's the kind of thing said more often about a romantic love—husband, wife, girlfriend, partner, lover. You can't imagine them going on without you. But they do. We do. Every day, we may wake up and say, What's the point? Why go on? And, there is really only one answer: To be alive.”
Quote by Bill Hayes
Work
Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: Птичка на перваза / Bird on a Window Sill
Source: In the Pines
“Once you truly love, nothing else will do. So now that you're gone I will choose nothing else.”
Source: Anybody Out There?
“..the heart is a hell of a machine. Even when it's broken, it still finds a way to carry on.”
Source: The Best Kind of Magic
Source: Linger
“Momma used to say, you got to know when to move. More important than knowing when to stay put.”
Source: Man Crazy
“My past still clings to me, skeleton hands holding me back even as I push forward into the light.”