Those truths coexisted with my growing unease, and I didn’t know how to hold them both.

Before bed, Mabel carried Bunny into my room and asked me to retie his blue ribbon.

I noticed the stitching had become loose beneath it.

She turned him over quickly and told me she liked him just the way he was.

I didn’t push.

She climbed into my lap, and we stayed that way until her breathing slowed.