Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

Sexuality is complicated. It’s not static. People change and sexuality can change too.

but she was starting to believe you were never too old to feel lonely, to wonder where you belonged in the world.

Astrid Parker was loved, no matter what her mother thought of her. No matter what choices she made. And that love gave her the courage to choose herself.

For everyone who figured it out late in life.

She knew it was juvenile - she was thirty years old and a professional for god's sake - but she was starting to believe you were never too old to feel lonely, to wonder where you belong in the world.

There’s running from something,” Angela said, “and there’s running to something new.

It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.

This is what Astrid got for being perpetually early. Her mother had pummeled punctuality into her so fiercely that even when Astrid was on time, her anxiety spiked and she went on a down thought spiral of disappointing or inconveniencing anyone who might be waiting for her. Hence, she was ever the early bird.

I mean it’s been a while since I’ve had a heart-to-heart, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it is. They both fell silent at that. Heart-to-heart shimmering in the space between them.

Then, before Astrid could laugh or protest or react at all, Iris grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the bed. She yanked both Claire and Delilah into her embrace as well, until the four women were wrapped up together on the bed, laughing and crying and swearing, everyone’s hair and makeup ruined good and proper. And no other moment in Astrid’s life had ever felt so perfect.

Outside, clouds slid across the sky. The morning had started bright and sunny, but Jordan actually liked the clouds, the softness of the gray sky. It felt right, comforting, whereas the sun in Savannah always felt like it was mocking her. Look, I'M happy, why can't YOU get your shit together? Clouds were kinder,

but the twins kept up their Oregon summers until they went off to college.

She slumped in her chair, one ankle propped on her knee, arms on the seatrest as she leaned her head back. Astrid’s fingers found their way back to Jordan’s arm. Well, no, not instinctively. Her instincts rarely included physical comfort, but somehow her fingers didn’t belong anywhere else right now.

But Astrid had always hated this view of herself. Uptight, Unable to let go- cold. Everything Isabella Parker Green embodied. Everything Astrid didn't want to be, but felt trapped into being anyway.

It was very nearly too much, but Astrid could handle too much. She could handle anything. She had to.

You need something new, Jordan. You're not living your life, you're living a life that died a year ago.

Happiness was about purpose, it was about self-awareness and acceptance.

His book is total white dude navel-gazing.

gut instinct couldn’t shake off the years of crossing her legs at the ankles, right over left.