“And then he saw what he’d never seen before, which was that Peter was fine. And Kate was fine. Lena was fine. And he, Francis Gleeson, was fine. And that all the things that had happened in their lives had not hurt them in any essential way, despite what they may have believed at times. He had not lost anything, only gained.
-- Francis Gleeson (chapter 22)

Importance: Francis Gleeson reaches this conclusion at the end of Ask, Again Yes. This quote represents the conclusion of the healing process between the Gleeson and the Stanhopes, the two families in the novel. Despite all the trauma the two families have been through, by the end of the novel Francis Gleeson feels that they are fine. Even though Francis could no longer work and was severely disfigured by a shooting earlier in the novel, by the end he feels that he didn't lose anything but only gained...