Today I am celebrating the birthday of my twin nieces. One year ago today, they were born full term, to our great relief. Even from the outside, the pregnancy was a stressful one. My sister experienced bleeding so intense that she thought she was miscarrying on more than one occasion. And I knew too much about the risks of prematurity with multiples and the effects of being born too soon. But she didn’t deliver early. The babies didn’t need to spend months in the NICU. And now we have these two delightful baby girls in our lives, and I’m so grateful for them.

But as so often happens in life, my day of joy for my nieces and my sister and brother-in-law was tempered by other news. This morning I received an email from one of my students. There was nothing in the subject line, and I assumed that she was checking up on some feedback I owed her for an editing project. (I’ve been a little slow.) But instead, it was a message saying that her baby girl, who was just born, months too soon, had died. I haven’t met this woman in person, but I feel so close to her, and I know she’s heartbroken. I’m heartbroken for her. And I’m sending my love out, hoping that she can feel it.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post an interview with the talented and lovely Katrina Kenison. Her new memoir, Magical Journey, is the perfect book for the way life and death exist side by side, the way we must celebrate each joy-filled moment even in the face of devastation and heartbreak. Please check back for the interview. And in the meantime, holds those dear to you close if you can.