Ralph Webster Quotes

I can't recite the chronology or elaborate on the facts. I can't explain the reasons or defend how we lived our lives. What I can tell you is how the events of 1933 sowed the seeds that fundamentally changed our future, that there was little hand-wringing or emotion, that circumstances were beyond control, that there was no recourse or appeal. I can tell you that events were incremental, that the unbelievable became the believable and, ultimately, the normal.

Ralph Webster, A Smile in One Eye: a Tear in the Other

Visit me before I die. We can enjoy one another's company. A funeral is a rather one-sided affair.

The way I see it, religion, has done our family more harm than good. For me, faith has never been a source of comfort... For herself, Mela always missed having that sense of identity. She had a longing to belong... Long ago, we found that compromise.

My parents have lived longer than most and have expected very little. We have been blessed in too many ways to count.

Nothing about these times makes any sense. Nothing. Putting it to words only makes it sound too simple.

I can tell you that events were incremental, that the unbelievable became the believable and, ultimately, the normal.

I thought those were others. Soon, I was to learn that they were us.

With all her heart, Mom believed in opportunity for everyone and privilege for no one. She put her children first, and her faith and trust in the American dream.