“A wedding ring is a symbol of commitment; a promise, a pledge, and a vow. The promise is to forsake all others, to stay devoted and true; the pledge is to honor that promise selflessly, to see the whole thing through; and the vow is to keep that pledge unwaveringly, until the days are few. It is a mutual agreement to become one instead of two.”

“Upon hearing the news I felt completely emptied. Emptied of life, feeling, and hope. I felt as if my very soul had left my body.”

“Selfishness leads to nothingness. Generosity and benevolence leads to great reward,” he explained.”

“The thing of it is, we don’t have to be perfect or be the best. We just need to do the best with what God gives us and how life treats us.”

“Sometimes when I really like something, or try to do or experience something, I get all anxious about the end before it even begins. I was doing it again. This is really hard to put into words, but it was as if I was already experiencing the end of the weekend before it had even begun, and it created a lot of anxiety in me. It worried me that I would not get everything out of it that I wanted, or that it would not be all that I had hoped it would be. I was too emotional.”

“She was a light from Heaven, and a beauty for all of us to behold.”

“My dad told me that God allows people to make their own choices and doesn’t override their free will. That is why bad things happen. People don’t do the things they should.”

“I read the bible every day and the one thing I have noticed is that those characters that are closest to God seem to be the ones who question and wonder and think more than others.”

“There was no guarantee of victory if I remained the same or just tried to be myself, but there was certain defeat in pretending to be something I was not.”

“Our failures make us who we are; they build our character, we are defined by what we do with them, and how we respond to adversity. Without failure there is no growth, no striving for better, no adjusting, or dusting yourself off to try again.”

“This was not what we wanted to hear that morning. Adventures inspire, tall tales excite, and fantasies stir the imagination, but sad stories seldom ever buoy the spirit. We all paused to take in the sad news.”