The great thing about all my siblings is we all agree we had a horrendous childhood. It's not like it doesn't affect us now; it affects us every day, in everything we do.
Interpretation
The shared struggles of a difficult childhood significantly impact the lives of siblings even in adulthood.
In this quote, Pat Conroy reflects on the collective experience of his siblings, emphasizing that they all recognize their challenging upbringing. The acknowledgment of a 'horrendous childhood' suggests that such experiences are not easily forgotten and continue to shape their daily lives, influencing their behaviors, relationships, and decisions as adults.
In practice
During a family therapy session, one might use this quote to highlight the lasting effects of childhood experiences.
It enclosed us in its laceries as we watched the moon spill across the Atlantic like wine from an overturned glass. With the light all around us, we felt secret in that moon-infused water like pearls forming in the soft tissues of oysters.
A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.
Every woman I had ever met who walked through the world appraised and classified by an extraordinary physicality had also received the keys to an unbearable solitude. It was the coefficient of their beauty, the price they had to pay.
Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly.
I loved my parents... but that can never change the fact that my father's violence ruined my childhood.
The most powerful words in English are 'Tell me a story,' words that are intimately related to the complexity of history, the origins of language, the continuity of the species, the taproot of our humanity, our singularity, and art itself.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.
A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnessary.
I still think it's essential for a parent to cook with their children. Weighing out the ingredients and learning where the food comes from is educational, but it also helps to place meal times at the heart of family life. We never had dinner in front of the TV.
She yearned to see her mother again, and Robb and Bran and Rickon… but it was Jon Snow she thought of most. She wished somehow they could come to the Wall before Winterfell, so Jon might muss up her hair and call her “little sister.” She’d tell him, “I missed you,” and he’d say it too at the very same moment, the way they always used to say things together. She would have liked that. She would have liked that better than anything.
Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.
My coaches were great. My mom and dad. My dad never missed a wrestling meet.
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