3. This is an image of my nephew, Simon. One of so many that I love, because I love him so much that it’s sort of impossible to pick just one expression, just one moment. Simon was born on November 23rd, 2013. He was due to be born on February 6th of the next year. 0008

On the very day that Simon came into the world so unexpectedly, my husband of 12 years moved out of our home. The world collapsed all at once. My brother, my best friend, called from GW Hospital, and asked me with panic in his voice to go to their house to gather some essentials, and take their dog until they were back home again. Which wouldn’t be as a family of three for a long, long time. I hadn’t yet told him what was going on in my life, and wouldn’t until January, when I thought he was stable enough to take that on, too. In retrospect, he’s stronger than anyone I know (with the exception, possibly, of his wife) and had I told him, we could have just shared in the sadness and fear of the weight of the unknown together. And found strength in knowing that the sliver of light that leaks into the darkness just grows with time, opening the world up in beautiful ways that you never could have imagined.