I cannot imagine how much I must’ve suffered in my previous lives to be fortunate enough to have parents like you in this life.

It is now clear that faith is a singular pledge of paternal love, treasured up for the sons whom he has adopted.

I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was so soft and the room was so warm and his voice was so deep and his knee was so snug that I slept.

...if I were an angel of the Lord, I would mark the doors of each of my children's homes with an X, so that plague and misfortune would pass over them. Alas, I lack the qualifications. So when there was still world and time enough I fretted. I nagged. I corrected. I got everything wrong.