torn to pieces Quotes

“Families can go years without hearing a thing, only to find their sons and daughters waiting on the front doorstep, home on leave or sometimes blissfully discharged. But usually you receive a letter made of heavy paper, stamped with the king’s crown seal below a short thank-you for your child’s life. Maybe you even get a few buttons from their torn, obliterated uniforms.”

“O, you have torn my life all to pieces . . . made me be what I prayed you in pity not to make me be again!”