“The caretakers play a crucial role, but there’s no way to predict how a parent will react to this.”

“This was the bench we sat on the night that Avi had his biopsy.”

“If there’s a chance then it’s worth a try.”

“I feel like it’s draining us. Both emotionally and physically.”

“Some of my colleagues tell me they can’t imagine working in pediatrics.”

“I got diagnosed last January. A mass behind my spine, two masses in my lungs, spots all over my lymph nodes and bone marrow.”

“I got cancer in the summer when the pools were opening.”

“Last week the Mets were down 3-0 in the seventh inning, and Céspedes tied the game with one swing. Well that doesn’t ever happen with cancer.”

“We’ve been fighting this for thirteen years.”

“The MDs build the treatment plan. The nurse’s job is to get it done.”

“Gabe was a perfectly healthy boy. He’d reached all his milestones as a child.”

“All doctors have those patients who sit on our shoulder. Their image is always with you.”

“I’ve been teaching the GED course for 21 years. I’ve helped over 300 students get their certificates.”

“I met Donald when I was twenty-six. He pursued me relentlessly.”

“I’m sixty-two now. I have three more years. I sold heroin. A lot of it.”

“I knew a person who worked for an insurance company. I’d give her some money and then she’d give me all the information I needed to open fake credit lines.”

“I was convicted of distributing a large amount of crack cocaine.”

“I was in college when I started. I was going to school and working at a print shop.”

“I’ve organized a lot of programs in prison. One of the classes I started is called Creative Parenting.”

“My dad couldn’t handle me. My mother was an alcoholic so he raised us on his own.”