“Any story that’s going to be any good is usually going to change.”

“You can write about your parents when they're gone, but your children are still going to be here, and you're going to want them to come and visit you in the nursing home.”

Trudy threw a jug across the room. It didn’t reach the opposite wall, it didn’t hurt anybody, it didn’t even break. This was the jug without a handle, cement-colored, with brown streaks in it, rough as sandpaper