Louisiana's Way Home

Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.

The world was beautiful. It surprised me, how beautiful it kept on insisting on being. In spite of all the lies, it was beautiful.

What matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down, but who picks us up.

I don’t know, Louisiana. I can’t see into the future. I do think that, more often than not, love has a way of finding us.

He was the kind of person who, if you asked him for one of something, gave you two instead.

Because that is what it means to be alive, on this infinitesimally spinning planet. It means you have cares. Doesn't it?

Here is something I have learned: you should never expect help from someone who perpetually has their hair in curlers.

He looked at me, and, my goodness, his eyes were bright, and it occurred to me that they were probably so bright because he had never had to ask himself who he was or where he belonged or who he wanted to be.

You have a gift, Louisiana, and the more of yourself you put into the song, the more powerful—the more truthful—the song becomes.

It seems like a good thing to know the star that can keep you from being lost in this world.

And perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.

on Saturday,” said Burke. “A carnival ain’t a circus, but it’s still something. And it is mostly fun. There’s rides and games.” “Oh,” I said. “You and me could go.” “I need to know something,” I said. “This is important. What direction is south from here?” Burke pointed without even having to stop and consider. It was very impressive. “That way,” he said. “Why?” I turned and looked south. Clarence raised his wings and lowered them, but he stayed on Burke’s shoulder. “Why?” said Burke again. “Because south is where Florida is,” I said. “So?” said Burke. “Florida is where I am from. That’s where my

Speaking of funny — when I walked into room 102 of the Good Night, Sleep Tight and said, “Granny, I have brought you two bologna sandwiches!” Granny did not say anything at all. I expected her to curse

That is one of the things I have discovered in this world. It is pointless to make big plans because you never know when someone is going to wake you up in the middle of the night and say, “The day of reckoning has arrived.

It is a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings,” I said. “And also curses. There are curses in the story.

If you have not left your home in the middle of the night without even giving it a backward glance; if you have not left your cat and your friends and also a one-eyed dog named Buddy without getting to tell any of them good-bye; if you have not stood on the side of the road in Georgia, somewhere just past the irrevocable state line, and waited for someone to come along and give you a ride, well, then you cannot understand the desperation that was in my heart that day.

Dang" said Burke when I was done. "That's a good song." At least I knew that about myself. At least I knew I was somebody who could sing. That was something Granny had given me. She had given me a lot. I suppose.

It is a wondrous thing to be at the top of a tree. When you have two Oh Henry! bars to eat. And a bag of peanuts.

Who was I without the Flying Elefantes? Who was I without Granny? And who was I without a curse upon my head?

Should you be driving?" said the woman. "I should be driving," I told her. I gave her a very-serious grown-up-to-grown-up sort of look. "The situation is dire.

In my dream, you are standing in front of the vending machine from the Good Night, Sleep Tight, and you are smiling at me, using all of your teeth. You say, "Select anything you want', darling. Provisions have been made. Provisions have been made." I am so happy when you show up in my dream and say those words to me.

But Clarence probably had cares. Because that is what it means to be alive on this infinitesimally spinning planet. It means you have cares. Doesn't it?

I can listen to you, Louisiana Elefante," said Reverend Obertask. "That is the only magic I have. Do you want to tell me the rest of your story?