top of page

The Things We Keep

Sally Hepworth

Top 10 Best Quotes

“I like it when people remember that I'm a person, not just a person with Alzheimer's.”

“When you get to my age,' he says, his face softening, 'you don't waste time with regrets. In the end, you just remember the moments of joy. When all is said and done, those are the things we keep.”

“I never had a good answer to Mom's question. 'If I don't remember, will I have been here at all?' But maybe her question was flawed. Maybe it doesn't matter what you remember. Maybe if someone else remembers and speaks your name, you were here.”

“You might start something on a lie, or finish it on a lie, but that doesn't mean that everything in the middle isn't the truth.”

“What's the point in having a mentally ill aunt if she can't buy you a Nerf Super Soaker Electrostorm Blaster?”

“into my room. *   *   * The last time I had sex was the night I left my husband. I packed my bags while he was at work and loaded most of them into the car. The furniture, the mementos, everything except my clothes was his to keep—where I was going, I wouldn’t need them. Then I waited in the hallway, sitting on a suitcase. Aiden arrived home at the usual time. The door jammed on my suitcase as he flicked on the light. “Hey,” he said, “what are you doing?” “Leaving you,” I said. Aiden continued hooking his coat on the hall tree. “Oh yeah?” “Mmm-hmm,” I said. “You seem to be taking it well.” He turned, taking in my suitcase and somber expression. “You’re … serious?” I’d never threatened to leave him before, but we had a certain way of talking, a light way, that made everything seem like a joke. As I held his gaze and nodded, realization dawned. “Shit, Anna.” He raked his hands through his hair. “I know we have problems but—” “I have Alzheimer”

“Life is too short not to kiss.”

“It’s funny, even though we’ve just been discussing dementia-related stuff, for the last few minutes, it didn’t feel like either of us had dementia. It felt like we were just a guy and a girl, discussing life.”

“A few months ago, presented with the knowledge that life wasn't going to be what I'd planned, I wanted to check out, close the book. But now, it's like suddenly I've found a few more pages. And it feels like, against all likelihood, the last chapter might be the best one of all. The last chapter, in fact might be something great.”

“love is more like a river—it wants to flow. And if one path is blocked off, it simply finds another.”

Except where otherwise noted, all rights reserved to the author(s) of this book (mentioned above). The content of this page serves solely as promotional material for the aforementioned book. If you enjoyed these quotes, you can support the author(s) by acquiring the full book from Amazon.

Book Keywords:

alzheimers

More Book Quotes:

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Robert McKee

The General's Daughter

Nelson DeMille

The 33 Strategies of War

Robert Greene

The Human Condition

Hannah Arendt

bottom of page