“when someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. you try to keep track of everything in your head. but it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just clutching air and grit. that’s why you can’t save it all up like that. because by the time you finally see each other, you’re catching up only on the big things, because it’s too much bother to tell about the little things. but the little things are what make up life.”