PART 6: June Arrives

My daughter was born on a bright afternoon in early summer, with Nora beside my hospital bed and a physician who explained each step before asking me to make decisions.

She arrived protesting the entire arrangement, her fists opening and closing as if she intended to negotiate better conditions.

I named her June.

She weighed a little over seven pounds and had a tuft of dark hair that pointed in a ridiculous direction.

I had never known that a single person could make the world seem both enormous and very small.