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Quote by Evita Wren

“It’s all well and good wanting to recover and grow and move forward, but healing’s only healing if you’re ready—otherwise it’s just punishment.”

Quote by Evita Wren

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Harper's Landing

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Evita Wren

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“Grief isn’t linear. It comes in waves. Some are tsunamis—early on, most of them are. They knock your legs away again and again and again. You never have time to get back to your feet. Over time, the waves get smaller. It doesn’t get easier, just more manageable—but right after you lose someone, where you’re learning your new reality without them in it, it’s like being on the beach as a little kid, and you see the water coming, and you know that no matter what you do, you can’t get out of the way in time. What people don’t tell you is that sometimes, the waves can get real big again for no reason. They come out of nowhere and steal your breath, and it hurts just as bad, even after years. Decades.”

“After Rose, I had so much guilt and it simmered for a long time, until after Sarah left, and it started boiling until my head became a pressure cooker, my body vibrating with energy that had no outlet. Until I cross-threaded a screw while I was fixing the bay door at the Firehouse, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I lost my fucking mind, that way you do when it’s been building for too long, and when you finally snap, it’s at something you can’t realistically blame or punish, like an inopportune papercut, hitting your head on a cupboard door, or trying to put your jacket on, but your sleeve is inside out so your arm gets stuck.”

“I remember the first year after my stepmother’s death. I saw her in everything. It wasn’t on purpose. I wasn’t looking for her, she just showed up. Unexpected and alive and also not alive in my life. I remember walking in Brooklyn and there was a woman who looked just like her… ducking into the Blue Stove bakery and I thought very simply, “Of course. She loves good food.” And then of course, I knew it wasn’t her, it was only the back of someone’s head really. And then it turned out to be a woman who did not look like her at all. That’s how it happens, right? All of you who have lost someone, you know it, you’ve seen it. The visitation seems like a gift and also a hard memory of grief.”