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“I will teach my daughter not to wear her skin like a drunken apology. I will tell her ‘make a home out of your body, live in yourself, do not let people turn you into a regret, do not justify yourself. If you are a disaster it is not forever, if you are a disaster you are the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. Do not deconstruct from the inside out, you belong here, you belong here, not because you are lovely, but because you are more than that.

â€� Azra T. “Your hands are threads, your body is a canvas”
― Azra T.

“I don't want awards, I want my daughter. I wouldn't exchange a single eyelash of my daughter for the whole world.”
― Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

“Mother and daughter like spoons in a drawer.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

“Some day you will look back on these days as the happiest of your life. You will forget your financial struggles. You will forget the unfair division of duties. You will forget feeling trapped and smothered, imagining that you are in a loveless marriage. You will only remember the joy of a young family, working together making your way through an unfamiliar world. Appreciate what you have now.
pg vi”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Song of Songs: The Book for Daughters

“Sharper than a serpent's tooth is a daughter's ingratitude. Still, the proudest spirits can be broken, with love.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“She was perfect. I knew this the moment she emerged from my body, white and wet and wailing. Beyond the requisite ten fingers and ten toes, the beating heart, the lungs inhaling and exhaling oxygen, my daughter knew how to scream. She knew how to make herself heard. She knew how to reach out and latch on. She knew what she needed to do to survive. I didn’t know how it was possible that such perfection could have developed within a body as flawed as my own, but when I looked into her face, I saw that it clearly was.”
― Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Language of Flowers

“You may have started as my daughter, but it was always understood that one day you would be a wife, mother, and contributor to this Messiah's kingdom. I will never ask anything from you again, but an entire world will.
pg 1”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Song of Songs: The Book for Daughters

“Behind every successful man is a woman but few of us realize that behind most successful women is a man too; her father.”
― Shahla Khan, I Want Back My SPARKLE!: Breaking the global chains of gender slavery.

“There was even a story passed among the queen’s court that when freshly hatched, Rhiannon bit her mother on the neck when she tried to cuddle her new daughter. But Rhiannon didn’t believe that for one second. True, she believed she bit her mother, but she didn’t believe her mother had tried to cuddle her.”
― G.A. Aiken, Dragon Actually

“Genesis began with the Father losing His family. Revelation ends with Him getting them back. Is there nothing to be learned from this sad cycle? Truly, family is the legitimate theme of holy text.
pg vi”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Song of Songs: The Book for Daughters

“Love is dirty-sloppy-stupid. The problem has always been: How do we contain such a dangerous substance (love) in the confines of holy matrimony without hurting or killing someone?
pg ii”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Song of Songs: The Book for Daughters

“You ask me if you can eat dinner in your room, but you don’t
ask me if you can torture Éibhear to take you flying?�
Truly perplexed, Izzy asked softly, “Why would I ask you that?”
― G.A. Aiken, About a Dragon

“He was her father after all. True, a father whose funeral rite she planned to dance at and toast with ale, but her father just the same.”
― G.A. Aiken, A Tale of Two Dragons

“You off then, Da?â€� she asked.

“Aye. Too old for all this killing.� And to prove that, her father turned and brought his axe down on the head of a traitor that had gotten too close. Spun once more and cut off the legs of another.

He faced them again. “Need to get back to my rocking chair and some hot tea.�

“C±ô±ð²¹°ù±ô²â.&°ù»å±ç³Ü´Ç;
― G.A. Aiken, Supernatural

“What’s wrong with him?â€�

“Nothing. He’s just. . just. .� “Just what?�

“A peacemaker.â€� And she’d dropped her voice to a whisper. “What would I do with a peacemaker?â€� “The same thing I did with a whore.”
― G.A. Aiken, Supernatural

“I look in the jewelry box where Joanie found the drugs. She showed me a miniature Ziploc bag filled with a clear, hard rock.

“What is this?� I said. I never did drugs, so I had no idea. Heroin? Cocaine? Crack? Ice? “What is this?� I screamed at Alex, who screamed back, “It’s not like I shoot it!�

A plastic ballerina pops up and slowly twirls to a tinkling song whose sound is discordant and deformed. The pink satin liner is dirty, and other than a black pearl necklace, the box holds only rusty paper clips and rubber bands noosed with Alex’s dark hair. I see a note stuck to the mirror and pick up the jewelry box and move the ballerina aside. She twirls against my finger. The note says, I wouldn’t hide them in the same place twice.

I let out a short breath through my nose. Good one, Alex. I close the jewelry box and shake my head, missing her tremendously. I wish she never went back to boarding school, and I don’t understand her sudden change of plans. What did they fight about? What could have been so bad?”
― Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants

“Who is the daughter of God?”
― Madelaine Standing, Heaven In The Meat Packing District

“I love you so much, Sahra. You will do wonderful things. Have courage and believe in yourself.”
― Abeba Habtu, Become Courageous Abeba: A Story of Love, Loss, War and Hope

“Because I'd rather fell guilty for the rest of my life than for her to have felt a second's fear - Tess's Mother”
― Rosamund Lupton, Sister

“As I was saying, King Solomon, my daughter brings with her the most powerful weapon on earth--love.”
― Mesu Andrews, Love's Sacred Song

“A whore Ailean may have been, but a loving, caring whore who adored his offspring and mate.”
― G.A. Aiken, Supernatural

“I’d like you to come to Kauai with me,â€� I say. “And Scottie. I think it would be good to get her away from the hospital for a day. We can leave in the morning, find him, and be home tomorrow night. If it takes us a day longer, that’s fine, but we won’t stay more than two nights. That’s our deadline. If we don’t find him, then at least we know we tried.â€�

“And this will make you feel better somehow?�

“It’s for her,� I say. “Not for him or me.�

“What if he’s a wreck? What if he loses his shit?�

“Then I’ll take care of him.� I imagine Brian Speer wailing on my shoulder. I imagine him and my daughters by Joanie’s bed, her lover and his loud sobs shaming us. “Just so you know, I am angry. I’m not this pure and noble guy. I want to do this for her, but I also want to see who he is. I want to ask him a few things.�

“Just call him. Tell his office it’s an emergency. They’ll have him call you.�

“I want to tell him in person. I haven’t told anyone over the phone, and I don’t want to start now.�

“You told Troy.�

“Troy doesn’t count. I just need to do this. On the phone he can escape. If I see him in person, he’ll have nowhere to go.�

We both look away when our eyes meet. She hasn’t crossed the border into my room. She never does during her nighttime doorway chats.

“Were you guys having trouble?� Alex asks. “Is that why she cheated?�

“I didn’t think we were having trouble,� I say. “I mean, it was the same as always.�

This was the problem, that our marriage was the same as always. Joanie needed bumps. She needed rough terrain. It’s funny that I can get lost in thoughts about her, but when she was right in front of me, I didn’t think much about her at all.

“I wasn’t the best husband,� I say.

Alex looks out the window to avoid my confession. “If we go on this trip, what will we tell Scottie?�

“She’ll think we’re going on a trip of some sort. I want to get her away from here.”
― Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants

“You’ve already said that,â€� Alex says. “Why should I go?â€�

“You’re the only person I have,� I say. “And I want us all to be together. It will be good for us.�

“Oh, so now I’m back in the picture again.�

“Alex. Something bigger than you is occurring right now. I’m sorry about your unhappy childhood.�

She glares at me in that special way of hers and Joanie’s that makes me feel worthless and foul-smelling.

“So we’ll tell Scottie we’re going on a vacation while Mom is in the hospital?�

“It’s for a day or two,� I say. “Scottie’s been in the hospital every day for almost a month now. She needs a break. It’s not good for her. I’d like you to be in charge of answering any questions she may have. She looks up to you. She’ll hang on whatever you say.�

I’m hoping a leadership role, a specific chore, will make Alex act like an adult and treat Scottie well.

“Can you do that?�

She shrugs.

“If you can’t handle things, let me know. I’ll help. I’m here for you.�

Alex laughs. I wonder if there are parents who can say things to their kids like “I love you� or “I’m here for you� without being laughed at. I have to admit it’s a bit uncomfortable. Affection, in general, is unpleasant to me.

“What if Mom doesn’t make it for two days?�

“She will,� I say. “I’ll tell her what we’re doing.�

Alex looks uncomfortable with this idea, that what I’ll say will make her mother want to live. “I’m bringing Sid,� she says. “If he doesn’t come, then I’m not going.�

I’m about to protest, but I see the look in her eyes and know this is yet another battle that I’m bound to lose. Something about this guy is helping her. And Scottie seems to like him. He can keep her distracted. He can work for me.

“Okay,â€� I say. “Deal.”
― Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants

“Beso me without desire so I may hear her coo, that grew in you”
― Sean Thomas Dougherty, Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line

“She wanted to punch her father in his snout, but she wouldn’t. He was her father after all. True, a father whose funeral rite she planned to dance at and toast with ale, but her father just the same.”
― G.A. Aiken, A Tale of Two Dragons

“Si no quiere abrazarme, entonces que tampoco se acerque para golpearme.”
― Maria Fernanda Heredia, Hay palabras que los peces no entienden

“Odia su violencia, pero nunca lo odies a él.”
― Maria Fernanda Heredia, Hay palabras que los peces no entienden

“During the last week of her father's life, Blanca stayed home with him. 'I didn't bathe. I didn't sleep. I sat in the bed with him in the living room. And we were communicating all the time. I kept thinking, and it's more beautiful in Spanish, but I wanted to bottle his breathing.”
― Kevin Renner, In Search of Fatherhood: Stories from Women Around the World

“Work and happiness are like mother and daughter; work brings forth happiness, but hard work brings forth great happiness!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes

“Daughter follows mother in actions and habits and some times also follows her granny.”
― Tayyab Nawaz Sulehri